Gundam MegaWing: After Colony 225
by Aynslesa
Summary: 30 years after the Eve Wars, Earth and the Colonies have only one defense against an enemy who knows no boundaries. It's up to the Neo-Gundams now . . . *Contains Yaoi* COMPLETE!
1. And So It Begins

**Gundam MegaWing: After Colony 225**

**Chapter One: And So It Begins**

A manila folder landed on Lady Une's desk. The leader of the Preventers opened it and looked at the satellite photographs contained inside. "You're positive about this data?" she asked the messenger.

He nodded. "Yes. It would appear that Quietus' output of Cyclones has tripled in the last two months. It's getting dangerously close to the scenario Neo-OZ has identified."

"What about Arctic Wind?" Lady Une asked, standing up and going over to her office window. The planet Mars wasn't visible in the night sky, but Une knew it was out there. "Have you heard from her, Dragon?"

"She made contact a couple hours ago," Preventer Dragon replied. "It doesn't look like Quietus is planning on sending Chronosphere out into battle anytime soon, so for now, it'll only be six in the defense. The team will have a tough time during the fights without her providing internal back-up."

Une snapped the folder closed and massaged her temples. "How much of the team is assembled?"

"Seven suits, and only Neo-Sandrock, Sparticus, Chronosphere, and Heatseeker have pilots."

"Why is it taking so long?" Une demanded. "What are those idiots at Neo-OZ _doing?"_

"You know that only exceptional pilots can work these suits," Dragon replied. "It's always been like this. But they have probable pilots for Atlantica and Lotus. MegaWing is a problem, however – every possibility they've tried hasn't had the mindset to work it."

Une sighed. "They dug that hole themselves. Installing the Zero System in MegaWing was the biggest mistake they could've made. What the hell was Quatre thinking?"

Preventer Dragon smiled. "I have complete faith in Quatre Raberba Winner's abilities. He was the brain of the last team, don't forget." He sighed and drummed his synthetic fingers on the desk. "Although I didn't expect him to pilot Neo-Sandrock. I was sure he'd have Trente do it instead." 

Une looked at him in shock. "_Quatre is piloting Neo-Sandrock?" she gasped. "But he's 45 years old!" _

"He's also in perfect physical condition, and he's kept up with his training since they started building the Neo-Gundams fifteen years ago." Preventer Dragon glanced ruefully at his arm. "And if I hadn't gotten injured, I'd probably be piloting one of them myself. But that's the way things are."

Lady Une smiled. "You sure have changed since the accident, though." She seemed to stare off into space a little, as if thinking about the past. There was a knock on the door, and she snapped out of her reverie. "Come in."

The door opened, and her secretary poked her head in. "Mariemeia's on the phone, Lady Une," she said. "She wants to talk to you about your plans tonight."

Lady Une nodded. "I'll talk to you later," she told Dragon. "Meanwhile, make sure you keep me updated on the latest. I want to know what happens with those other three Neo-Gundams. I'm curious about who they'll choose for MegaWing."

Preventer Dragon nodded and bowed. "Until later, then."

When he was gone, Lady Une looked again at the satellite photographs. "Quatre, I hope you know what you're doing," she whispered. 

Then she picked up the phone to talk with her adopted daughter.


	2. Quatre

**Gundam MegaWing: After Colony 225**

**Chapter Two: Quatre**

_Bzzz. Bzzz. Bzzz. Bzzz. _

_Either there's a hive of hornets in my room, or it's time to wake up. Forty-five year old Quatre Raberba Winner sat up in bed and stretched, then shut off the alarm clock beside his bed. The number 5:00 were illuminated in the dark room. _

Quatre pulled himself out of bed and stumbled into his bathroom, splashing cold water on his face and running a comb through his hair. Any normal person would've been a walking zombie if they'd gone to bed at midnight and woken up before dawn – or what passed for dawn on this colony --, but Quatre was used to it. As the head of the Winner Corporation (and secretly the Neo-OZ organization), he had long ago become adjusted to long hours.

The teenager pounding around the room down the hall was another story. 

_Trente's been trained for this his whole life, Quatre thought affectionately as he looked at a framed picture of the blond-haired, green-eyed sixteen-year-old. "But no matter how much training he's gone through, he definitely isn't a morning person." It was something he'd tried to work out of the boy, but he hadn't tried __too much – he didn't want to break his spirit, after all. Quatre knew all too well what a person could be like if they were __over-trained. _

Pulling on a clean shirt, vest, and pants, Quatre stepped out of his room and into the hallway. He and Trente shared a large suite of rooms in the Winner Corporation building. The family had several mansions throughout the colonies and Earth, but considering the Neo-OZ base was located beneath the surface of the colony, both of them felt more at home on L4-XX103. 

The entire colony was a front for the secret military organization that lay under its exterior. Every person who lived on the colony worked for the Winner Corporation, and many of them worked for Neo-OZ as well. The total population of the organization ranked about 3,000, last time Quatre checked. But unlike the first OZ, run by the late Treize Kushrenada, Neo-OZ only sported seven mobile suits – the Neo-Gundams. 

_It should be eight, thought Quatre. _

Eight Neo-Gundams had begun construction fifteen years earlier, when the first signs of Quietus had begun to appear. Quatre had stumbled upon the terrorist operation when he'd been contacted by Zechs Marquise (formally Milliardo Peacecraft) while the elder was working on the Mars Terra-Forming Project. Zechs had contacted Quatre when he began to fear his own life was in danger.

Zechs and his wife, Lucretzia Noin-Marquise, died only a few months later. 

Neo-Sandrock. MegaWing. Heatseeker. Chronosphere. Sparticus. Lotus. Atlantica. Shinigami. All eight had begun construction at the same time. Only seven had finished the construction. One month before its completion, Gundam Shinigami and all of its blueprints had disappeared from its construction facility. At the time, Quatre had made the decision to move the rest of the Neo-Gundams from their hidden strongholds to XX103, where he himself could keep an eye on them. 

That had been ten years ago. Now only six of the Neo-Gundams sat in their hangers, three without pilots. The seventh was currently leased to the Preventers on an undercover mission.  

"Hey, Quatre?" Trente called from his room. "Are you going down to headquarters?"

Quatre winced. Even now, Trente's voice still affected him. And it had been over sixteen years. "Yes, I am, Trente," Quatre replied. 

"I'll be down in an hour," Trente added. "I woke up late. Sorry."

"It's okay," Quatre replied. "But you better hurry, or Isaac will have to go through Heatseeker's test instead."

Trente muttered something intelligible, and Quatre shook his head in amusement as he headed for the elevator. Trente and Isaac O'Riley had never gotten along well, and the Sparticus pilot was known for his recklessness. _But he's got natural talent for mobile suit piloting, and his computer skills make him a valuable asset, Quatre couldn't help admitting as he stepped into the elevator. _

The door closed, and Quatre began to descent to the Neo-OZ Headquarters. 


	3. Isaac

**Gundam MegaWing: After Colony 225**

**Chapter Three: Isaac**

Isaac O'Riley leaned against the silver metal of Sparticus' leg. The Neo-Gundam had no coloring aside from silver and gray, but it didn't bother him. Hidden in the drab exterior was strength unfounded in the other Neo-Gundams. Not only was Sparticus made from Gundanium alloy, but it was also made from a mixture of neotitanium and diamond alloy. The combination made for an extremely hard reflective shield. Sparticus wasn't designed for combat, but as a defense. It could defend itself, and with its beam saber it could fight offensively, but its main purpose was to protect the other Gundams. Sparticus also had an electrical shield that could be expanded as an extra defense, if needed. 

Rule number one in the Neo-OZ rules and regulations was that if any civilians were to get caught in a battle zone, they were to be given top priority. Isaac's job was the make sure that happened. 

"Done with your test already?" Isaac looked up to see Trente walked towards him. Isaac's uniform always looked like he dragged it out of the bottom of his closet and threw it on, but Trente's always seemed to fit perfectly, no matter how many times he wore it. It wasn't something that would normally bother Isaac, but he had an ongoing rivalry with the Heatseeker pilot, and always had since arriving at XX103. 

"No," Isaac replied. "Quatre got a phone call shortly after he arrived here and decided to postpone it. I think it was from Preventer HQ."

Trente frowned, his blond hair flopping into his face and covering one eye. It was always doing that, and every time it happened, Neo-OZ members who had served with the original OZ and fought against the original Gundams always got a strange expression on their faces. Trente never seemed to notice it, but Isaac was always a stickler for detail. "I wonder what's up," he murmured, fiddling with his ID tag. As if there was anyone that didn't know who he was. 

"_Trente Nanashi and Isaac O'Riley, report to the Commander's office immediately."_

Trente and Isaac looked at each other grimly. "Quietus," Trente said.

"Damn straight," Isaac replied.


	4. Quietus Makes its Move

**Gundam MegaWing: After Colony 225**

**Chapter Four: Quietus Makes its Move**

Quatre looked at the other two pilots. "You understand what I'm saying?" he asked. 

Isaac nodded. "Quietus is beginning to move out. Those Cyclones that the Preventers tracked are probably on their way to the outer colonies. Right?"

Quatre nodded. "And, unfortunately, we won't be able to warn those colonies. We're going to need to intercept the Cyclones _before they reach them."_

"But can the Neo-Gundams move fast enough to get to the outer colonies before the Cyclones reach them?" Trente folded his arms over his chest and leaned back in his chair. "Do we have any idea when Quietus is going to send them out?"

"Preventer Dragon's contact seems to think sometime in the next twenty-four hours," replied Quatre.

Isaac sat forward. "No way!" he exclaimed. "We've only got three Neo-Gundams online, four if we count the one on Mars. We _can't fight that many Cyclones with just __four Neo-Gundams! This isn't like the Eve Wars, Quatre – we're not talking about some standard Leos and Ares mobile suits. The Cyclones are practically as advanced as the Neo-Gundams! The only difference is most of those are Mobile DOLLS."_

Trente eyed his fellow pilot. "Contain that famous Irish temper of yours, Isaac. All we have to do is find pilots for the other three Neo-Gundams."

Isaac threw up his hands. "Oh, is _that all?"_

Quatre removed a folder from inside his desk. "Actually, we have perspective candidates for Lotus and Atlantica. I'm sending agents out to get them as we speak. MegaWing is a slightly more difficult problem." He sighed. "We may have to wait awhile on that one."

"Why did you have to outfit MW with the Zero System, anyway?" Isaac muttered. "That thing's so unstable."

"I know," Quatre said softly. "But I remember the Zero System from watching Heero Yuy use it, and from my own personal experience. If we can get that on our side, then it'll be no problem defeating those Cyclones."

Trente eyed his guardian. "Why don't you just use it? You've done it before, in the final battle of the Eve Wars."

"I did," confirmed Quatre. He closed his eyes briefly, and suddenly looked twice his age. "And I don't want to do it again. It's why we need a special pilot for MegaWing – not just anyone can pilot the Zero System and maintain his sanity."

Isaac leaned his chair back on two legs and propped his feet up on the desk. Quatre frowned at him, and he immediately removed them. "Too bad we don't have Heero Yuy himself to pilot it."

"It would certainly make our job easier," Quatre agreed. "But no one has heard from Heero in almost fifteen years."

The three pilots fell silent, each lost in their own thoughts. It was Trente who finally broke the silence. "When will the other two pilots get here?"

"Tonight," replied Quatre. "I'm going to need your help prepping Lotus and Atlantica."


	5. The New Pilots

**Gundam MegaWing: After Colony 225**

**Chapter Five: The New Pilots**

Akira Koto walked up to the door of the apartment building. He could see the light on in the first floor apartment. He glanced down at the folder in his hand. _She'll probably love this, he thought, __but it doesn't seem right to force it onto her. _

Koto had been with Neo-OZ since the very beginning, and used his job as a kendo instructor to search for possible candidates for the Neo-Gundam Lotus. There was only one of his students who stood out. And as usual, she was up late into the night.

Meila Fuang had left her home in the L5 colony cluster to take up refuge in Japan. She'd done everything short of changing her name to keep her family from tracking her down. She didn't attend school, wasn't featured in any directory; even her apartment didn't have her name on the lease – Koto had rented it for her. He'd always been fond of this particular student.

But what truly made her stand aside from the other candidates was her fascination with the Eve Wars. No, that wasn't right – it was her fascination with mobile suits, particularly the Gundams. Koto had once been part of the original OZ, and he knew that Trieze Kushrenada had admired the will to fight for their freedom and peace that the pilots had. Meila had memorized everything about the Gundams and their pilots. She knew everything that existed for the public to know. 

She identified with them. 

Koto tucked the folder under his arm, and pressed the button on the intercom for apartment 1B.

***

"Hey, Sandy!" 

Sandra Martinez paused as she let her best friend, Yolanda, catch up with her. "What is it, Yo?" she asked.

Yolanda tossed her long black hair over her head and looked at her blonde friend. Sandra, unlike Yo, wasn't entirely Hispanic, but the only thing that proved that was her long blonde hair. She kept it pulled back in a ponytail to keep it from getting in her way. "You weren't in class today," she said curiously. "Where were you?"

Sandra shrugged. "I wasn't feeling too well, so Aunt Sophia let me stay home. Actually, I just came out to pick up a few things, and I really need to be getting back. Adios, Yolanda."

"Adios," echoed Yolanda, watching as her friend walked off slowly. _What's wrong, Sandy? she thought. __It's not like you to be so sad._

Sandra walked along the road in silence, and in no hurry to head home. Her mind replayed the events of that morning over in her head. 

_"Sandra? We must talk."_

_Sandra paused to look at her Aunt Sophia. After her mother had died from a brain tumor when Sandra was ten, she'd been living with Sophia, her mother's second sister. "Yes, Tia?"_

_"I must talk to you about your mother," Sophia replied, motioning for Sandra to sit down._

_Uncertain, Sandra did as she was beckoned. Sophia rarely talked about Aurora Martinez – the two sisters had been incredibly close. "What is it?"_

_"Do you know what your mother did for a living?" _

_Sandra frowned. "I know she was a scientist. And she was working on a very important project just before she died."_

_"It's that project I need to speak with you about . . ."_

"It isn't fair!" Sandra suddenly shouted, not caring who heard her. "Mother, why did you have to do this to me? Why?!" Tears streamed down her face, and she hurriedly brushed them away. They were quickly replaced with more. "It _isn't fair," she sniffled. Her aunt's words rang in her ears._

_"You must pilot Neo-Gundam Atlantica. It was your mother's final request."_

"I hate you, Mother," sobbed Sandra.


	6. A Pilot for MegaWing!

**Gundam MegaWing: After Colony 225**

**Chapter Six: A Pilot for MegaWing?!**

"Isaac, wake up," Trente said, kicking the Sparticus pilot in the leg. 

Isaac groggily opened an eye. "What is it?" he mumbled.

"You fell asleep while prepping Atlantica," Trente said. 

"Are the other pilots here yet?" Isaac asked.

Trente shook his head. "Quatre wants us to come to MegaWing's cage, though. He wouldn't say why."

Isaac stood up. "What's the crazy mecha doing now to drive everyone insane?" he demanded, his Irish brogue showing through in his voice. Isaac had always been a little touchy about the subject of MegaWing – Quatre had tried him in the Neo-Gundam, but he'd failed to master the Zero System. 

The two pilots made their way to the cage, Trente dragging Isaac by his jacket so that he wouldn't stop and flirt with the female technicians. The Heatseeker pilot muttered under his breath as Isaac managed to do so anyway. 

"Why are you so intent on pleasing Quatre?" Isaac wanted to know as they left the busy cages of Lotus and Atlantica and entered the far quieter cage of Sparticus and Heatseeker. MegaWing and Neo-Sandrock were stationed just beyond those. 

"The man took me in when there was no one else who would," Trente replied. "My mother was a cousin of the Winner family, and she died giving birth to me. No one knew who my father was, so Quatre took me in and raised me like is own son."

"So you're related to the Winners by blood?" Isaac asked curiously.

"Distantly," answered Trente. "Why?"

"Well, I was just thinking that that explained why you looked so much like Quatre. Although the green eyes and your height and everything don't quite fit in with that." Isaac nimbly jumped over an empty box of spare part. "Do you ever think about trying to find out more about your father?"

Trente shrugged. "Quatre doesn't want me to. I get the feeling he knows who he was, and wasn't very thrilled with him. Every time I mention wanting to find out more about my history, he shoots it down." He shook his head. "I don't know why I'm telling you this."

Isaac typed in the code to open the door to the first cage. "Maybe 'cause I'll actually listen?" he asked. "Look, Trente, I know you and I have never been the best of friends, but I know what it's like to be different from everyone else. Remember, I'm not really Isaac O'Riley. That's just the name the government has given me."

"Can I ask what your real name is?" Trente asked.

"Maybe I'll tell you some time," Isaac answered. "But not today." They stepped into the cage and immediately spotted Quatre talking to a young boy with unruly chestnut hair and bright blue eyes. The boy noticed them, and said something to Quatre.

Quatre turned to greet Trente and Isaac. "I want the two of you to meet someone." He motioned to the boy. "This is Kenji Lowe. He'll be piloting MegaWing."


	7. The First Confrontation

**Gundam MegaWing: After Colony 225**

**Chapter Seven: The First Confrontation**

Kenji looked at the other two pilots. Trente looked a lot like Quatre, but his eyes were green, his face lean and body lithe. His blonde hair flopped into his face, covering one eye. Kenji hadn't missed the expression on Quatre's face that had briefly appeared when he'd seen the other boy.

Isaac was solidly built, with straight red hair that came down to his chin. Hazel eyes looked at him coolly sizing him up. Kenji took an instant dislike to the other pilot. 

"He can master the Zero System?" Isaac asked bluntly.

Quatre nodded. 

"Where are you from?" Trente asked, speaking directly to Kenji.

"L2," Kenji replied. "I'm an orphan. I joined up with the Preventers about a year ago, but their work dissatisfied me. Lady Une suggested I come here to find some place better suited for my skills."

"I wish she would've told me about you sooner," Quatre said. "We wouldn't have had to go through so many duds, then." 

Isaac tucked his hair behind his ears. "This isn't like the Preventers," he said, staring hard at Kenji. "We don't just sit around and work behind the scenes. We'll be going one on one with a very lethal enemy. You sure you can handle it?"

"Isaac," Quatre said warningly. 

Kenji held up his hand and stared stonily at the other boy. "It's okay. To tell you the truth, I _don't know how I'll handle it. But I come from a line of fighters – I think I have a better chance of handling it then most people. Both of my parents were involved in the Eve Wars. I've learned a lot from them."_

Something about that statement bothered Trente, but he brushed it off. Here was a boy who could handle the Zero System! And he had arrived just in time. 

Suddenly a loud alarm ripped through the compound. "What's going on?" Kenji asked.

Quatre cursed under his breath. "Quietus!"

"What's the situation, Dorothy?"

Lieutenant-Commander Dorothy Catalonia turned to face Quatre as he, Trente, Isaac, and Kenji walked into the command center. "The Cyclones appeared just outside the L4 Colony Cluster," she replied, tossing her blond hair over her shoulder. "There're about one hundred of them, but they could be shielding more from radar. From what we know, the Cyclones are definitely Mobile DOLLS."

"Any sign of troop transport?" Quatre asked.

Dorothy shook her head. "No. The Cyborgs have either been sent to another area or haven't left Mars yet."

"Are we going to fight them?" Trente asked, looking at Quatre. "Lotus and Atlantica don't have their pilots yet."

Quatre folded his arms across his chest and looked thoughtful. "Neo-Sandrock, Heatseeker, and Sparticus are ready. MegaWing is, too, if Kenji's up for it."

Isaac eyed the new pilot. "You haven't done any battle simulations."

"I can handle it," Kenji said confidently.

"Dorothy, alert the Preventers. Let Une know what's going on. The three of you, get to your Gundams. We'll move out as soon as everyone has moved to the shelters." Quatre looked at the map on one of the walls. There were about twenty-four colonies in the L4 cluster. "We can't do anything about the other twenty-three colonies. Which is why we need to stop the Cyclones before they can attack."

"We can't shield ourselves from radar," Trente said uncertainly. "We could get in big trouble for this."

Dorothy stared at Trente, hard. "Which would you rather be: in trouble, or dead?"


	8. Easy Victory?

**Gundam MegaWing: After Colony 225**

**Chapter Eight: Easy Victory? **

A tall man stood in front of a large screen, watching with satisfaction as the one hundred Cyclone Mobile DOLLS made their way to the L4 Colony Cluster. "This is going to be easy," he smirked. "They'll never even know what hit them."

His companions nodded. "Do we really have to watch this?" one of them asked. "We know how the battle will turn out, and I'm scheduled for a tune-up."

"I suppose we don't have to be here," the first said. "We're recording the broadcast, anyway." He began to turn.

A strange X appeared on one of the Cyclones, and then it exploded.

"What?!" The Quietus commander stared at the screen. "What the hell was that?!"

Strange red spots appeared on a dozen Cyclones. A second later, a series of missiles raced towards them, ignoring all other suits except for the ones marked. The dozen exploded, and the debris slammed into five or six more, destroying them as well.

Something – it looked like a beam saber – cut through five or six Cyclones. 

"What in the world is going on?" the commander snarled.

"Look."

On the screen, they watched as space seemed to ripple. _A shield, realized the commander. Something was shielding the attackers from view. The debris cleared, and Quietus had a glimpse of the ones who dared to attack their forces._

Four mobile suits floated in space, four against eighty or so Cyclones. 

The first looked oddly familiar, but no one could quite place it. It's coloring was gold, white, and silver. In its hands were twin heat shorters, glowing brightly. The head of the suit turned from side to side, sizing up the situation.

The second was very different from the first in weaponry and coloring, but the basic design was similar. It was primarily yellow, with shocks of red, orange, and white in various places. It held no weapon, but attached to its arms and legs were large missile packs. Heatseeking missiles, to be exact.

The third was one color, gray, and almost blended in with space. This was the one who had used the beam saber. It didn't seem to have any other weapon, but the armor was something to behold. It was double-plated, making the suit seem larger than the others. And judging from the electrical readings the Cyclone's sensors were picking up, it had also been the one to create the shield. 

The fourth was the largest. Two pairs of silver cyber wings protruded from its back, and it was hard to tell if they had a purpose, or if they were just there for show. Rocket turrets were on both shoulders. The coloring was basic – purple, blue, and red – but it held a beam cannon in its hand. 

A very _large beam cannon . . . _

"Order the Cyclones to fire back!" shouted the commander.

"One of the unknown suits is already firing!" one of the officers called back. 

As the screen exploded with bright light emanating from the cannon's beam, a young girl with long, whitish blonde hair stood in the back of the room. 

_So the Neo-Gundams have arrived, she thought with amusement. __Quietus is going to need to seriously rethink their battle plan. _


	9. Kenji Who?

**Gundam MegaWing: After Colony 225**

**Chapter Nine: Kenji Who?**

"So the Neo-Gundams first sortie was a success," Une said, looking at the image in front of her. "Have they returned yet, Dorothy?"

Dorothy shook her head. "No. I got a message from Quatre, though. Their ETA is about thirty minutes. They're taking their time coming back. They wanted to patrol to make sure no more Cyclones made it. By the way, thanks for sending that pilot to us."

Une blinked. "Pilot?"

"Yes, Kenji Lowe." Seeing Une's blank expression, Dorothy frowned. "He said you sent him to be MegaWing's pilot. He mastered the Zero System almost immediately."

"I didn't send anyone," Une said. "The only pilots I've had connections with are Meila Fuang and Sandra Martinez. By the way, their shuttle will be reaching the L4 sector soon. I sent Akira Koto to accompany them. The Lotus girl trusts him, and he's a good agent. I worked with him in OZ."

Dorothy nodded. She looked troubled. "Well, thank you for the update, Une." She quickly signed off and cut the connection.

Une leaned by in her chair, her arms folded over her chest. _Kenji Lowe? That name doesn't mean anything to me. She reached over and pressed a small button on her intercom. "Could you send him in now?" she asked her secretary. _

"Yes, ma'am," her secretary replied. 

A minute later, the door opened. "Does the name Kenji Lowe mean anything to you?" Lady Une asked.

Preventer Dragon stopped. "I don't get a hello?" he asked, showing mock disappointment. "But no, the name Kenji Lowe means nothing."

"Then that's your next assignment," Une said. "Kenji Lowe is MegaWing's pilot."

"They found a pilot for MegaWing?" Dragon asked in shock. 

"He went to Neo-OZ claiming credentials from us. I don't know much else, but he managed to master the Zero System on his first try according to Dorothy. I don't want to request information from Quatre until we're positive about some things, so that's about all you have to go on. Okay?" 

He looked thoughtful, then nodded. "I'll get the job done. Mind if I ask Water to help me on this one?"

"Go right ahead," Une agreed. "You'll probably need a bit of help anyway if it involves traveling. But do not waste time. This could be serious."

Dragon saluted her, then turned and walked out of the office.

_Kenji Lowe, he thought. __That name doesn't ring a bell, although the name Lowe is somewhat familiar. But where have I heard it before? He struggled to pull it from is memory, then shook his head. __Never mind. It's probably nothing. _

He headed for the parking garage, pulling a cellular phone out of his pocket. He dialed a number, then waited for it to answer as he walked towards his motorcycle.

"Hello?"

He managed a small smile at his old partner's voice. "Sally? It's me. I need your help with a few things. Could you come over later on tonight?"

"I can manage it. Can you give me a hint now?"

_That's Sally. Always wanting to facts. "I don't think it's something we can talk about over the phone. I'll be waiting." He said good-bye and hung up._


	10. Waiting

**Gundam MegaWing: After Colony 225**

**Chapter Ten: Waiting…**

"We will be arriving shortly at the L4-XX103 Spaceport, Shuttle Bay 8. Please fasten your seatbelts, and thank you for flying Winner Air."

"Damn," Meila Fuang said, leaning back in her seat. "A private airline? I wonder when they'll get around to renaming the _colony for the Winner family."_

Her kendo teacher, Akira Koto looked over at her. "Try to be polite to Mr. Winner," he said to her. "Could you go check on Sandra before we land, please?"

Meila sighed. "Why? She's got to be the most antisocial girl I've ever met." But she was used to doing as her sensei wished, and maneuvered her way back to the opposite end of the shuttle. 

"What is it?" Sandra asked before Meila could say a word.

"Sensei just wanted me to make sure you were okay," Meila said, leaning against the seat. "You know, there _is an empty seat next to us. You could move up there. It would make getting off the shuttle easier."_

"I have an excellent sense of direction," Sandra said, looking out the window. "If anyone gets lost, it will be you and your sensei."

Meila blinked. _Snob, she thought. Rolling her eyes, she moved back to her seat. "How the hell did that girl get chosen to be a pilot?" she muttered._

Akira looked amused. "I hear Atlantica was designed especially for her."

"Tell me more about Lotus," Meila said, looking at him. "You've explained her weaponry, but is there anything else? I know that Deathscythe HELL could hide using a stealth cloak, and that Wing Zero had the Zero System installed in it. I also know that Sandrock had the Zero System for a little while, too, so it isn't exclusive to Wing Zero. Or is it more like Altron and Shenlong? Was it modeled after any other Gun . . ."

"Hush!" hissed Akira. "This isn't an exclusive shuttle, Meila. You can't talk about classified information like that."

Meila looked startled. "Sensei, there's almost no one on this shuttle." She was right – there was only a couple dozen on the shuttle built for three times that amount. 

"You never know who could be listening," Akira said. "Our contact will meet us at the shuttle bay. Until then, _keep quiet."_

The Lotus pilot sighed and tightened her ponytail. _I don't see what the big deal is, she thought. __There's almost no one on this shuttle. And besides, I thought most of the people living__ on this colony worked for Neo-OZ. She slid her hand into her pocket and fingered the smooth plastic of the temporary ID Akira had given her. There wasn't even a picture. __I can't wait to see what Lotus looks like. I hope she's an Oriental design, like Shenlong or Altron. Those were some amazing Gundams. And since Quatre Raberba Winner built them, the Neo-Gundams are bound to be just as amazing! I can't believe I'm going to get to meet Quatre Winner himself. I wonder if he can get me an introduction with the other four pilots. The public doesn't know where they are, but I bet he does. _

_This is going to be so cool!_

"I'm bored, I'm bored, I'm bored, I'm bored, I'm bored, I'm –"

"Going to be dead if you don't shut up," Kenji said, glaring at the video image of Isaac on his control panel. 

"Ooo, and the great pilot speaks," taunted Isaac. "I didn't think you'd stoop down to that level, speaking to lowly pilots who can't master the Zero System."

Kenji narrowed his blue eyes at the Irish boy. "Are you _trying to pick a fight?"_

"Yes, he is," Trente interrupted. "Isaac, leave Kenji alone. Kenji, ignore Isaac. Quatre, how much longer until we can head back for the colony?"

Quatre pushed his goggles up on his head and looked around at the darkness of space. "We have to make sure we got all the Cyclones."

"You know, was it just me, or was that battle just a _little too easy?" Isaac couldn't help commenting. "Maybe building eight Neo-Gundams was overkill, if the four of us could handle it so easy. I thought Quietus was supposed to be tougher than the original OZ."_

Quatre frowned. "Our information indicated that they were," he replied, glancing at his radar screen. Nothing. Not a single indication that there was anything remotely interesting out there. "But you're right, Isaac. It shouldn't have been that easy to take out that many Cyclones MD. The Taurus and Virgo Mobile DOLLS that were around during the Eve Wars were tougher, but technologically inferior. Something isn't adding up here."

Something flashed on Trente's control panel. "Quatre, I've got a problem. Heatseeker's indicating that it's low on fuel. I must've used up more than expected firing the missiles, and I didn't bring an extra tank with me."

Kenji brought up a starchart on his screen. "Looks like there's a Winner Corporation Resource Satellite not far from here. Can you refill there?"

Trente looked at Quatre for approval.

"Go," Quatre said. "Kenji, cover him. Isaac and I will head back to XX103 –" Isaac let out a whoop of happiness – "_slowly." Isaac groaned. "Just to make sure we didn't miss anything."_

Trente gave his guardian a quick salute and maneuvered Heatseeker over to MegaWing. "I'm going to tag along on your wing to make sure we don't get separated if I run out early," he explained to the newer pilot. 

"Fine with me," Kenji said, flashing Trente a quick grin. 

Quatre looked startled. There was something about that grin that reminded him of something . . . or someone. He couldn't quite figure out what it was, though, and shrugged it off. "We'll see the two of you when you get back," he said to the younger pilots. "Let's go, Isaac. If we're lucky, the other two pilots might be at headquarters by now."

"Girls?" Isaac asked, perking up. "I'm right behind you, Commander!" Sparticus' thrusters powered up, and he sped after Quatre and Neo-Sandrock. 

Kenji watched the other two Gundams disappear in the distance. "Is he always like that?" he asked Trente.

Trente nodded. "Yes."

"So how long have you been a pilot?"

"I've been training to pilot Heatseeker practically since I could walk. I'm sixteen, so I was a year old when the Neo-Gundams went into production. Quatre had taken me in as a ward of the Winner family when I was born, so I've been involved in this thing my entire life," he replied.

Kenji appeared interested. "So you aren't related to the Winners? You look like you could be."

"Everyone says that," Trente said, laughing. "Actually, my mother was a cousin of the Winner family, but I don't know much about her. She died when I was born, and my father disappeared before then. I'm not even a full-blooded Arabian – Quatre says I have a bit of French in my blood. How he'd know that is beyond me, but it doesn't really matter."

"I see." Kenji glided behind a couple of broken Cyclones, Heatseeker hanging on for the ride. "Well, my life is sort of similar to that. I was born on L1, but I moved to L2 when I was about four, where I lived in an orphanage. I don't have any brothers or sisters, and no mother, either. Gods, I used to be teased endlessly for that. I had to learn self-defense just to make it through school. Which, by the way, I quit a couple years ago. Everything I learn now, I learn on my own and through real life."

"That'll change," Trente advised him. "Quatre's a stickler for education. Believe me, I know. So. Where'd you learn to pilot a mobile suit? From the Preventers?"

"No," Kenji said, shaking his head. "One of the guys who ran the orphanage used to be a soldier. He taught me everything he knew. I remember that used to make the other owner really mad. He'd been in the war, too – they knew each other from fighting together – and he didn't want me to get involved in anything. Plus he thought it was a major waste of time, us being at peace and everything." Kenji rolled his eyes. "Too bad he doesn't know anything about Quietus." 

"At least he cared enough to try and keep you out of it," Trente said sullenly. "I never had a choice in the matter. I was the first to be recruited as a pilot – it was originally intended that I pilot Neo-Sandrock, but after the disappearance of the Shinigami, Quatre decided to stick me with Heatseeker for some odd reason."

"The disappearance of the _what?" Kenji asked, obviously startled._

"The Shinigami," replied Trente. "It was modeled after Gundam 02, Deathscythe HELL, but taken to another level. Or, at least, that was the original plan. But the prototype and blueprints were stolen before it was completed."

"They actually modeled the Neo-Gundams after the old group?" Kenji asked.

Trente nodded. "Definitely. Each Neo-Gundam is modeled after a certain MS from the Eve Wars. Heatseeker takes after Heavyarms, MegaWing after Wing Zero, Neo-Sandrock comes from Sandrock, Lotus was designed from Altron, Shinigami was to take after Deathscythe HELL, Sparticus is modeled after the Tallgeese, and Chronosphere after the Epyon. Only Atlantica, the only aquatic mobile suit, has a completely original design. Actually, Atlantica is a strange one – Quatre didn't even approve the original design plans. The first designer of that MS was killed suddenly, and it was bequeathed to the Winner Corporation."

"So all in all there are, what, eight Neo-Gundams?"

"Counting the missing Shinigami, yes," Trente said. "Oh, look, there's the Resource Satellite. Just in time, too – I've just about run out of fuel. And I'm hungry. Feel like getting something to eat while we wait for them to fuel up Heatseeker?"

Kenji nodded. "Fighting always works up an appetite. I'm there."


	11. Arrival at L4

**Gundam MegaWing: After Colony 225**

**Chapter Eleven: Arrival at L4**

Dorothy watched as the shuttle landed easily in the holding bay. _They're finally here, she thought. __Thank goodness they made it here safely._

The first people out of the shuttle were various visitors from Earth, some working for the Neo-OZ organization, others as guests of the Winner Corporation who had no idea that there was a vast military headquarters deep within the colony itself. Dorothy stood calmly in the waiting area, her blonde hair dancing in the air-conditioned breeze. 

After most of the passengers had disembarked, she finally spotted the ones she was looking for. The first was a man in his fifties, his Asian looks giving away his identity automatically. Dorothy had never personally met Akira Koto, but he was a valuable asset to Neo-OZ. Koto was one of their best scouts, and always knew how to get tricky information in the toughest of situations. He had always been stationed away from the base, but now that he had been issued as guardian of the pilot of the Lotus, he would be taking a permanent stead at Neo-OZ Headquarters. 

Right behind him was a petite Chinese girl lugging a long carry-on bag. Years of experience told Dorothy that the girl probably had a sword or two stashed in the bag, and that was definitely one strapped to her back. Her short-cut black hair framed her face nicely, and she looked around excitedly as she proceeded to push past Koto and practically drag him down the shuttle stairs.

The last person was a tall, Hispanic girl. Sandra Martinez, Dorothy figured. She looked less than pleased to be there, but then, Une had warned them that the pilot of the Atlantica was less than willing to perform her duties. She was only doing this, Une said, because it had been written into her mother's will as a request to her daughter. The way she gazed around the shuttle bay once and then pretended to be incredible interested with her small carryon displayed her lack of enthusiasm. 

"Akira Koto!" Dorothy called, pushing her way through the crowd to greet the trio. "It's nice to finally meet you. I'm Dorothy Catalonia."

Koto bowed in greeting, showing his respect to the Lieutenant. "It is an honor to meet your acquaintance,  Lt. Catalonia. May I introduce my companions?"

"Of course," Dorothy said as she dug into her coat pocket.

He motioned to the Chinese girl beside him. "This is Meila Fuang." Then to the girl behind him. "And this is Sandra Martinez."

Dorothy smiled at both girls, then removed three ID passes from her pocket. She handed one to each of them. "These passes will allow you to move throughout the base at any time," she explained as she started to lead them through the crowd. "Your passes are all-access," she told Meila and Sandra, "and yours allows you to go anywhere but the science labs," she added for Koto's benefit. "Don't be shy to flash them to the guards. We have security for good reason, but so long as you're cleared, you'll have nothing to worry about."

"Excuse me," Meila said, looking at Dorothy with wide eyes. Koto shook his head at her expression. "But when you said your name was Dorothy Catalonia . . . are you the same Dorothy Catalonia who fought alongside Millardo Peacecraft and White Fang during the Eve Wars? The same Dorothy Catalonia who went one-on-one with Quatre Raberba Winner, pilot of Gundam 04, Sandrock?"

Dorothy raised her eyebrows, but nodded. "I am."

"Wow," breathed Meila. She pulled a small notebook out of her pocket. "Can I have your autograph?"

Before a surprised Dorothy could reply, her cell phone went off. She immediately grabbed it and listened carefully. "Understood," she said after a few minutes. "We're on our way."

"Is something wrong?" Koto asked.

She shook her head. "Not really. The Commander is about to arrive back at HQ after the recent attack on Quietus, that's all. It's time for you girls to meet your fellow pilots."

_Darn, Meila thought as they hurried through the crowd. __I didn't get her autograph. Oh well. Maybe next time._


	12. Arctic Wind

**Gundam MegaWing: After Colony 225**

**Chapter Twelve: Arctic Wind**

Quatre was exhausted by the time Neo-Sandrock was secured in its holding bay. He stumbled sleepily out of the cockpit and made his way down to the ground level. Isaac was already down there, talking a mile a minute. Quatre was amazed at how much that boy could talk when he was so obviously quiet. _He and Duo would make an interesting pair, he couldn't help thinking. Quatre winced. He tried not to think about his former fellow pilots too much nowadays. He hadn't seen them for years._

Too many years. 

Stifling a yawn, he started to walk towards the hanger exit. _I'm ready to go to bed, he thought. He had forgotten how much piloting took out of him. _

"Yo, Quatre!" Isaac said, hurrying up to him. "Where are you going?"

Quatre didn't bother looking at the younger boy. "To bed," he replied. "I'm putting Dorothy in charge. If you see her, tell her. Okay?"

Isaac shrugged. "No can do, Commander. Did you forget? She's meeting those other two pilots right about now. They're probably on their way here." He grinned. "And I think it would be really bad for the commander to show up late to a meeting with his two newest soldiers."

Quatre sighed. He _had forgotten, and he'd been the one to remind Isaac in the first place! "Okay, okay. Go to my office and wait. I'm just going upstairs to get changed out of these clothes."_

Isaac nodded. "I thought you ordered flight suits for us," he said.

"I did," replied Quatre, "but they haven't come in yet. They don't make MS flight suits in mass-production anymore, remember? Now get going."

Isaac saluted him and smirked. "Yes, sir, Quatre, sir!" he said, turning and sauntering off towards the commander's office. Quatre watched as a couple of female technicians walked by, and Isaac was immediately drawn into conversation with them. __

_At the rate he's going, I'll __be in my office before he is, Quatre decided. "Hey, Maria!" he called to the one of the floor managers. "Do me a favor. When Dorothy gets here, tell her to go to my office and wait for me, okay?"_

"Of course, Commander," Maria said, nodding.

"Thanks." He turned and headed for the elevators. 

"What do you mean, you have no idea what those things were?" 

Quietus Agent Arctic Wind sighed and tossed her long, white-blond hair over her shoulder. "Just like I told you a thousand times," she snapped. "Just because my MS is a Gundam doesn't mean I know everything about any other suit that exists. I had no idea that there were more Gundams being built when I swiped Chronosphere." _And if he buys that one, I have a mansion on L2 that I'd like to sell. _

The Quietus man frowned uncertainly. "You're positive you don't know anything about them."

Arctic nodded. "Absolutely. You know I'd tell you if I did." She smiled and batted her eyes at him. _God, I can't believe I gotta flirt with a guy who replaced half of his body with cybernetic parts. If it wouldn't blow my cover, I'd throw up from the pure thought of it._

The Cyborg soldier stood up a little straighter. "Well. Now that that's over." He leaned across the table. "I was wondering – perhaps you'd like to get out of this stuffy office and go somewhere a little more . . . comfortable?"

"Yeah, actually, I was planning on it," Arctic responded, standing up. "Too bad there's only room for one in Chronosphere. _Ciao, Howell." She stood up and walked out of the conference room, heading immediately for her Neo-Gundam. _

The truth was, though, that there was plenty of room in her MS for more than one person. The Neo-Gundams had been especially designed with extra big cockpits to accommodate more than one person. A pilot could practically keep house in the Gundam, actually. With new advances in technology, there hadn't been much need to take up all of the space in an MS with wiring, so Quatre and his scientists had made sure to hollow out living spaces for the pilots. They weren't very big, but you could easily fit two people, three in a pinch, in a Neo-Gundam.

Arctic just didn't want to share that space with anyone from Quietus, that was all. 

She closed the cockpit and opened up a small, shielded comlink with Preventer headquarters. "This is Preventer Arctic Wind, calling for Preventer Dragon. The seeds have been planted, the roots are growing. Tell the hive that they can begin collecting ASAP. But watch out – a hoard of dragonflies is nearing the hornet's nest. Over and out."

Translation: Arctic had already begun downloading false data on the Neo-Gundams, as well as tampering with the basic equipment within Quietus Headquarters. Then she'd created "worms" to search through the database and extract anything that might be useful. The 'hive', of course, was Neo-OZ, and the collection they were planning was simply spreading the word to their undercover agents to start gathering and being ready for anything. The dragonflies were Quietus' Cyclones – Arctic had discovered that, even after the recent disaster, Quietus had sent out another group which happened to be positioned near L3-XX19, where the Preventers had their colony base. 

Arctic desperately wished that she could speak more freely on her communications, or better talk, talk directly with Dragon, but there was always a chance that her messages could be intercepted. Of course, if that ever did happen she'd be dead, considering she used the same code name for Quietus and the Preventers. It was a calculated risk, however, considering Quietus believed she was a traitor to the Preventers and had double-crossed them. When, in reality, she was betraying Quietus' trust.

Something she had absolutely no qualms about, considering the bastards had killed her parents just so they could secretly take over Mars. 

_I'll destroy you all, someday, she vowed. __But not today._


	13. Meila and Sandra

**Gundam MegaWing: After Colony 225**

**Chapter Thirteen: Meila and Sandra**

Dorothy pushed open the door to Quatre's office. "Quatre? The pilots of – Isaac?"

"The pilots of Isaac?" Isaac repeated, cocking an eyebrow. "I'm not a Mobile Suit, Lieutenant. Quatre will be down shortly."

Dorothy stepped aside and motioned for Meila, Sandra, and Koto to come in. Isaac nodded to the agent, and smiled at the girls. Then, seeing the look Dorothy was throwing his way, he stopped sitting on Quatre's desk and took a chair at the meeting table on the opposite side of the room. 

"Sorry I'm late," Quatre said suddenly, breezing into the room. He pushed the door closed with his foot and sat at the head of the table, pausing momentarily to shake hands with Koto and the new pilots. "I'm Commander Quatre Raberba Winner. It's good to see you again, Akira."

Koto nodded. "It is good to see you as well, Quatre-san. How is your family?"

"Raechel just had another baby, which means I now have fourteen grand-nieces, and Thomasina's getting married again this fall," Quatre replied. "But we'll talk about that later. You must be Meila and Sandra."

Meila nodded, her eyes shining. _Wow. I can't believe Quatre Raberba Winner is actually talking__ to me! She pulled her notebook out of her pocket. "Mr. Winner? Can I have your autograph?"_

Quatre glanced at Dorothy, who shrugged. "Of course," he said graciously. He quickly scrawled his name on one of the pages. Meila took the book back and stared at the page, then grinned and stuck it back into her coat. "Now. I'm sure you girls have a lot of questions."

"Who's he?" Sandra asked, pointing at Isaac, who was entertaining himself by seeing how many times he could spin a pencil before it fell onto his lap.

Quatre grabbed the pencil and stuck it behind his ear. "This is Isaac O'Riley, pilot of the Neo-Gundam Sparticus," he replied. "He's been looking forward to meeting you."

Koto glanced uncertainly at the boy. He'd heard about the Sparticus' pilot, but had never actually seen him. _He reminds me of someone, he thought. It was no secret among Neo-OZ that Issac's name wasn't really Isaac, but no one except Quatre and Dorothy knew what his birth name was. And the commander was an excellent secret-keeper. _

Dorothy pulled out a couple of folders and handed one to each of the girls. "This is information on the Lotus and Atlantica Mobile Suits," she said. "After we're finished here, we'll take you to the hanger and introduce you to them. As you might have heard, two of our Neo-Gundams are equipped with the new Artificial Intelligence technology."

"I thought there were three," interrupted Meila.

"There were," Isaac said before Dorothy could answer, "but the third was the Shinigami, which disappeared several years ago."

"Thank you, Isaac," Dorothy said, frowning at the boy. "Atlantica and MegaWing are both currently installed with the AI, but there are plans to upgrade the other Neo-Gundams within the next year or two."

"We're hoping there won't be a need for the Neo-Gundams by that time," Quatre added, "but we can never be certain. Quietus is more ruthless than the Romefeller Foundation, OZ, the White Fang, and the Barton Foundation were altogether. That's what our intelligence indicates, at least."

Isaac snorted derisively. "Our first battle didn't exactly prove them correct," he reminded Quatre. "Speaking of which, I wonder if Trente and Kenji made it to that resource satellite yet. I think I'm going to try contacting them through Sparticus." He stood up, nodded to the group, and left. 

"You just let him leave?" Sandra asked, frowning. 

"You'll find that we aren't as strict as we might appear to be," Quatre replied. "The pilots basically have the run of the place. You are aware that you'll be staying here on this colony under the pretense of working for the Winner Corporation, right?"

Koto nodded. "I've already filled them in on that information," he replied. 

"Sort of," Meila jumped in. "He didn't really get past the 'working for Winner' part."

"Could you clarify?" Sandra requested.

Quatre nodded and leaned back in his chair. "You'll be living under the guardianship of Akira Koto. You've been enrolled in a local private school, which Trente, Isaac, and Kenji have also been enrolled in, and you will attend classes whenever you aren't need at Neo-OZ during the day. After school you will report directly the headquarters and stay here until you're off-duty, whether we have anything for you to do or not. Not only is this to ensure that you'll be on hand if needed, it's also necessary to provide safety for you. The last thing we need is losing any pilots."

"Trente and Kenji are the other two pilots, right?" Meila asked. 

"Yes," Quatre confirmed. "Neither of them are here right now – Heatseeker suffered some minor technical difficulties on our way back, and both of them rerouted to a nearby resource satellite. But you'll meet them later, I'm sure."

"Are there any other questions?" Dorothy asked, looking at them.

The girls looked thoughtful, then shook their heads.

"Great. Then let's move on to the hanger." Quatre stood up and ushered them out of the office. 

The hanger entrance was down the hallway, and both Meila and Sandra were stunned by the enormity of Neo-Sandrock as they stood in front of it several minutes later. Technicians were already at work repairing the few injuries the Gundam had obtained, but the girls took no notice of them. "It's just like the history books described it," Meila breathed.

"Not quite," Quatre replied. "Neo-Sandrock is more technologically advanced that Sandrock or Sandrock Custom, although the design in similar. And it has a few added weaponry features aside from the heat shorters and sub-machine gun. Oh, and one other thing – none of the Neo-Gundams are equipped with a self-detonation device. I remember all too well the temptation that occurred among me and my fellow pilots back during the war."

"Heero Yuy gave into that temptation quite a few times, didn't he?" Meila said lightly. Koto shot her a look, and upon seeing Quatre's expression, she immediately wished she hadn't said anything.

After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, Quatre nodded. "Yes, he did," he said. "But Heero did manage to survive the war, as did I, Wufei, Duo, and Trowa. But I don't know what they're doing at this time. I haven't heard from them in almost fifteen years. We've all gone our separate ways." 

"Can we see our Gundams now?" Sandra asked impatiently. 

"This way." He led them to the second hanger, where Sparticus stood beside the empty holding bay that belonged the Heatseeker. Meila looked at the thickly built silver MS, recognizing the design as being similar to that of the Tallgeese. It was obviously built to hold passengers, which would explain the size, and the armor it had wasn't just Gundanium. 

"A defense model?" she asked curiously.

"Sparticus is our back-up," Quatre explained. "It can handle nearly anything Quietus can currently send in our direction, and it's designed to make sure that civilian casualty is limited. It's –"

"Got an electromagnetic shield that can expand to cover an entire colony, as well as reflective armor plating. For protection purposes, it comes equipped with a high-grade beam saber similar to the type that Zechs Merquise used in the original Tallgeese," Isaac's voice said from somewhere above them. The group looked up at the Neo-Gundam to see the teenager looking down at them from the cockpit. "I got through to Trente. He and Kenji are at the satellite, but both MS are being repaired. It'll be awhile before they start heading back."

"Thanks, Isaac," Quatre said, smiling. "Are you staying here, or moving on?" 

Isaac grabbed the elevator cord and rode it down to the ground. "I've got nothing to do here," he said. "If you're going to see the other suits, I guess I could follow. You ladies don't have any objections, do you?"

Sandra rolled her eyes, but Meila smiled at him. "No," she said. "And maybe you can tell me more about Sparticus while we walk."

"No problem," he replied. "Sparticus was the fifth model-type to be created, based off of the Tallgeese I design . . ."


	14. Painful Memories

**Gundam MegaWing: After Colony 225**

**Chapter Fourteen: Painful Memories**

Trente watched silently as the technicians at the resource satellite worked on his Gundam. It was pure luck that the workers on this satellite were primarily Neo-OZ workers, even if the Winner Corporation _did own it. Not all of the Corporation's people knew about the underground military. _

"Trente, is it?"

He turned to see a tall, blonde-haired woman standing next to him. "Yes," he said, a touch of uncertainly in his voice.

"I'm Zoey," she said, holding out her hand. "Quatre's sister, older by 8 years. I've been wanting to meet you for some time now."

"Oh!" Trente immediately stood up and shook her hand. "I wasn't aware that one of Quatre's sisters was on this satellite. Forgive me."

Zoey smiled. "Oh, it's no problem. I've heard a lot about you from Iria, at any rate. I've been studying your Mobile Suit. That's a 03 design, correct?"

Trente nodded. "Yes, Heatseeker was modeled after Gundam 03, the Heavyarms. Quatre gave me a choice of either piloting this suit, or Neo-Sandrock. I think he's actually a little relieved that I chose this one."

"That's Quatre," Zoey said, nodding. "Heatseeker's a safer model type than Neo-Sandrock because it relies on long-range weaponry."

"You sound like you know quite a bit about the Gundams."

Both Trente and Zoey looked over to see Kenji making his way towards them, his chestnut hair wet from taking a shower. He'd changed out of his Neo-OZ uniform and was now wearing a simple blue T-shirt and a pair of black jeans. "Ms. Zoey, this is Kenji Lowe, pilot of the Neo-Gundam MegaWing," Trente introduced.

Zoey shook Kenji's hand and smiled. "None of this 'Ms' stuff, okay? I may be 53, but that doesn't mean I have to go around announcing it." She looked at Kenji quizzically. "Lowe, you said? Funny, you remind of someone, but I know for a fact that their name wasn't Lowe."

"It says right on my birth certificate, ma'am: Kenji Solo Lowe," Kenji replied, a little defensively. Then, to change the subject, he said, "So, how _do you know so much about the Neo-Gundams?"_

"I helped with the initial design plans," Zoey said. "Quatre said he wanted them similar to the previous Gundams, but not 100% identical. I helped on each of them except for Atlantica. Heatseeker and Shinigami were my favorites." She sighed. "Too bad we lost the latter." She stared at MegaWing and Heatseeker for a few minutes, as if remembering something. The she shook herself out of her thoughts, and once again looked at the two boys. "You two must be starving. What do you say we have ourselves some dinner while we wait for the repairs to be finished?"

Quatre was thoroughly exhausted by the time he returned to his suite after giving the girls the tour of headquarters. Trente still wasn't back yet, and Quatre had decided to eat in the cafeteria with the others. And now he was bored. 

He collapsed in a chair near the fireplace and looked at the framed photographs on the table in front of him. There was one of Trente, from school. One of the few pictures were the boy was actually smiling. Next to that was a family photograph of Quatre, all twenty-nine of his sisters, and their respective families. The faces were so small that he had trouble making out who was who. His sister Zoey was thinking about just having a mural done for the next family reunion, rather than waste money on photographs that were never big enough. 

Then he noticed the box underneath the table. On the side it was marked **Photographs, but Quatre hadn't looked in it in ages. He hadn't had the time. Now, after suddenly finding himself with nothing to do, he pulled out the box, set it on his lap, and removed the cover.**

The first set of pictures brought a smile to his face. They had been taken at a party a year after the Mariemeia War, and surprisingly, everyone had attended. There was a shot of Zechs and Noin with Relena, standing near the big Christmas tree. Another of Wufei and Sally under the mistletoe – he could still remember Wufei's outraged shouts as he realized that Duo had the camera. Speaking of Duo, there was one of him dancing Mariemeia around the room. The small girl had been easy for him to carry. There was Dorothy spiking the punch . . . .and Heero dumping it out and refilling it. Hilde and Catherine were competing with each other, trying to see which of them could stand on their head the longest. 

And the rest were all like that. Wufei holding Duo's braid and a pair of scissors. Heero looking extremely content (strange, huh?) with Duo leaning against his shoulder while he slept. Duo, Quatre, Heero, and Wufei standing outside a circus tent, each of them smiling (okay, in Wufei and Heero's case it was a near-smile). There was a shot of himself lounging around on a beach somewhere . . . that had been when he was seventeen, hadn't it? Or was it eighteen? Most of the pictures had been taken in his late teens through late twenties. There was very few prior to that. 

Quatre finished looking through the box when he noticed something else. A video tape. It was unmarked, rewound, with no indication of what it held. Curious, he walked over to the televeision and slid it into the VCR. 

"'Hey, Quatre, nice of you to join us!'" Duo's cheerful voice rang out from behind the camera. The picture popped onto the screen with a shot of him standing there, stunned. Of course. It had been his twenty-fifth birthday, the last birthday he had ever shared with all of his fellow pilots. He'd actually thought they'd all forgotten, and had definitely been surprised to find that they had planned a huge celebration instead. 

He couldn't help smiling as he watched images of Wufei, Sally, Une, and Zechs (all of them somewhat drunk) doing the can-can across the dance floor. Wufei had a lampshade on his head. Then there was the opening of presents, the cake, the whole nine-yards. Then Duo walked around shoving the camera into everyone's faces.

"'Maxwell, get that thing away from me,'" Wufei muttered as he winced, his hand on his head. It hadn't taken him long to feel the effects of alcohol, and Duo had been there to get a shot of it each moment. 

Heero had been a little more persuasive. For a few minutes, all you could see was the inside of the barrel of a gun. Duo got the message, laughed, and walked away. But every once in awhile the camera would swing back in the direction of the unsuspecting Heero. 

Suddenly Quatre stiffened. His hand fumbled for the remote control, but it wasn't fast enough.

"'Trowa, Quatre, what are you two doing back here?'" Duo asked gleefully, the camera catching the area behind the couch. "'You're missing all the fun!'"

Trowa looked up at the braided pilot, both of his eyes visible for once. "'Oh, I don't think so,'" he said mildly. "'We're having plenty of fun.'" Young-Quatre giggled at Trowa's words and implied meaning behind them. Quatre winced at the sound. 

Duo shook his head, shaking the camera as well. "'Whatever. Can't you guys get a room? At least wait until everyone's gone.'"

"'You're just grumpy because Heero's been avoiding you as long as you have that camera in your hand,'" Young-Quatre said, grinning.

Quatre snapped off the television. He stood up stiffly and walked into his room, leaving the photographs and the video behind. 

For the cold, hard truth was that Quatre Raberba Winner hadn't heard from any of the pilots in several years. The last the leave had been Trowa Barton, the man Quatre had – and had thought he'd felt the same way – loved. Trowa Barton had disappeared off the face of the Earth, and no matter how many times he had tried, Quatre hadn't been able to find him. After awhile, he had just given up. 

Which was why none of the photographs contained Trowa in them. If one looked closely, they could see where each of the group photographs had been neatly trimmed so that there were only four pilots, rather than five. 

And why, sitting in the bottom of one of Quatre's dresser drawers, there was a small gray box with a small gold ring lying in it. 


	15. The Second Confrontation

**Gundam MegaWing: After Colony 225**

**Chapter Fifteen: The Second Confrontation**

Isaac woke up to the sound of blaring alarms. 

_Did I fall asleep in Sparticus again? Looking around him and seeing the control panel, as well as his rumpled uniform, he realized that this was indeed true. __Damn, Dorothy's going to tear into me for this one. We still haven't gotten those flight suits in._

Suddenly he realized that the blaring alarms were just what they sounded like – blaring alarms. "Shit!" he shouted. He shot up out of the cot and stumbled over to the pilot chair. "What's going on out there?" he demanded once he'd gotten Control online.

Dorothy's second-in-command, Lucas Passmore, answered immediately. "We've picked up a disturbance, and the Preventers just sent us a copy of Arctic Wind's latest message. We're dispatching the Neo-Gundams to Preventer Colony Base immediately."

Isaac stifled a yawn and combed his hair with his fingers to try and get it to go in one direction. "Who's going?"

"You, Atlantica, and Lotus. We can't seem to raise the Commander, and Heatseeker and MegaWing are still at the resource satellite. If Nanashi and Lowe can get them online quickly, they might join you three. But for now, it's up to you, Fuang, and Martinez. Got that?"

"Who's commanding?" Isaac asked.

"You are," Passmore answered. "Think you can handle it?"

Isaac fought to urge to flip the Lieutenant the bird. _God, I wish the Lieutenant-Commander was on duty. I hate__ this guy. But he liked Dorothy. Yes, he and Dorothy were definitely on the same level when it came to battle tactics. Not to mention he'd known her most of his life. He'd known her long before he'd come to Neo-OZ. _

Passmore barked a few more orders at Isaac, who basically ignored them. He cut the transmission as soon as the idiot was done, then opened up channels to Atlantica and Lotus. "You two in there yet?"

Meila's face appeared on the screen. "I'm here," she said, grinning. "You look like you just woke up."

Isaac managed to look sheepish. "Yeah, well, I sleep better in the Gundam. I have a roommate in my dorm room, and he snores a lot. So I hang out here instead."

Sandra popped up a second later. "Cut out the chit-chat," she snapped. "Let's get going." Her image disappeared again.

Meila rolled her eyes. "I don't know about you, but that girl is seriously beginning to get on my nerves. Ready whenever you are, O'Riley." Her image didn't disappear, but she did focus back on what she was doing.

Isaac powered up his Neo-Gundam and watched as the hanger doors began to open, revealing the cold, dead space that made up the universe. In the distance, he could make out another colony. Just beyond that colony was the beginning of the L3 cluster, and in the center of that was XX19, home of the PCB. They were going to have to fly to reach it in time.

The doors were fully open. "Let's move out!" he shouted, pushing the control stick forward. Sparticus immediately shot forward. Just as it exited the colony, the space thrusters powered up and he went into overdrive. Right behind him, Atlantica sliced through the vacuum of space like a dolphin in water, while Lotus took up the rear, her gigacannon slowing her down somewhat. Actually attached to her chest plate, Lotus' GigaCannon was her most impressive feature. It had even more power than MegaWing's buster rifle, which was twice as powerful as the original Wing Zero rifle. 

"You okay back there, Mei?" Isaac asked. 

"I'm fine," she said, her voice tinged with excitement. "I can't believe I'm actually piloting a Gundam. This is amazing!" 

Isaac chuckled softly. Yes, it certainly was amazing. He could remember the first time he'd tested Sparticus. He'd taken the Neo-Gundam out without Quatre's permission and had nearly gotten suspended for that, but it had been worth it. Except for the fact that Trente threw it back in his face every now and then. Damn, that kid could be malicious when he wanted to be. Beneath that sweet, shy-looking exterior was a cold, ruthless soldier just waiting to come out. Isaac had once heard someone refer to him as 'The Silencer'. Dorothy had overheard, and she'd ripped into the guy who'd said it. That was something neither pilot had understood. Both Dorothy and Quatre tended to be somewhat protective of the Heatseeker pilot. 

_What is it about that guy? Isaac wondered. _

"Stop daydreaming and focus," Sandra cut into his thoughts. "Our objective is to take out the Cylcones at PCB. We can't do that if our supposed leader is drifting off into space. Literally."

"Huh?"

"You're drifting off course," Meila explained. Isaac glanced at his radar and saw that she was right.

"Oops," he said, heat rising in his cheeks. "My bad." 

Suddenly Meila frowned. "Hey, Isaac? Sandra? Did either of you just get a strange reading from your radar sensors?" 

Sandra nodded. "That's strange."

Isaac once again consulted his own radar. "Hey, wait. That blinking red light – wasn't it yellow a minute ago?" Dread began to send chills down his spine. Blinking lights meant . . . 

"Come on," he shouted, "let's get to XX19 _now!"_


	16. Mysterious Destruction

**Gundam MegaWing: After Colony 225**

**Chapter Sixteen: Mysterious Destruction**

Trente and Kenji woke up with a start. "Do you hear that?" Trente asked, looking at the other pilot. Both of them were sprawled out on couches in a waiting room near the hangers of the satellite stations. 

Kenji nodded. "Alarms," he said, rising from the couch. He yanked open the door and the sound of the alarms increased. Trente jammed his hands over his ears and walked over to the entrance. 

"What's going on?" he shouted to a nearby worker. 

The worker was frantically pushing some buttons on a console. "The hanger doors have jammed shut," he shouted back. "We can't get your MS' out!"

Kenji frowned. "Why do we have to leave?"

"Because in about ten minutes this entire facility is going to explode," Zoey said calmly behind them.

Both pilots turned to look at her. "What?" Trente asked, disbelief evident in his voice. 

Zoey's eyes flashed with anger, but her voice remained perfectly calm. "Someone set a bomb in this station," she replied. "None of our technicians can shut it off. We've been trying for the last half hour. The alarms you hear are from bomb, telling us how much time we have left. Reminding us that there's nothing we can do. The hanger doors have sealed shut, and none of our shuttles can get out. We're trapped here."

The two pilots glanced at each other. "You mean we're all going to die?" Kenji demanded, his eyes narrowed. 

She smiled slightly. "No. Not all. The two of you are going to get out.

"Heatseeker's missiles should be enough to blow open a hole in the hanger that your suits are in," she continued. "You can leave through there. There won't be enough time for any of us to follow, but at least the two of you would survive."

"You want us to leave you all?" Trente asked.

"I've been expecting this to happen for quite some time, actually," Zoey said sadly. "That bitch. I wasn't expecting her to pull this stunt while two Gundam pilots were here. Then again . . ." She looked straight at Trente. "Trente. When you get back to Neo-OZ, ask Quatre to tell you about your parents. Tell him I told him to do it. If he doesn't answer, then you'll have to get the answers yourself. It's a matter of life and death."

"Why don't you just tell me?" Trente asked.

"Because I have no right to do it," Zoey replied. She glanced at her watch. "Six minutes. Get out of here, you two. Now!" 

Kenji nodded. "Mission accepted," he said, spinning around and running for his Gundam. Trente started to follow, then hesitated. He threw his arms around Zoey and gave her a firm, but brief, hug. 

"Thanks," he whispered. "For everything."

Zoey smiled kindly. "It's the least I could do," she said. "Now get out of here, kid."

It took both Neo-Gundams a couple minutes to be brought online and checked over to make sure that they were in at least semi-working condition. "How are you going to be sure that you hit the doors and not anything else?" Kenji asked Trente.

"Like this." Trente typed in a command, and Heatseeker released a series of strange darts. The darts hit the hanger door and exploded, coating it with a strange red substance. "That chemical makes the target hotter than anything around it," he explained to Kenji as he aimed his missiles. "So long as I target in their general direction, I'll hit." He crossed his fingers on his free hand, then fired one case of missiles. There were about ten or twelve heatseeking missiles in each case, and they each hit their target. The resounding explosion as the door was torn apart would've knocked a normal MS off its feet. 

MegaWing and Heatseeker were not normal, and they blew out of the resource satellite without any trouble. 

"Those people are all going to suffocate," Kenji said softly as he looked back. The open hole in the station was allowing the vacuum of space to siphon out all of the air. 

Trente said nothing. Instead, he fired his back-up thrusters and led the way as they got as far away from the floating timebomb as they possibly could. By the time it exploded, they were far away enough so that the explosion didn't effect them, but both got tossed around a bit from the shockwave. "I'd say suffocating was the last thing on their minds," Trente said in response to Kenji's earlier comment.

"What do you think that was all about?" Kenji asked. "Was it Quietus?" 

"I have no idea," Trente replied. "Let's find some place to land. Earth might be our best bet. I think Heatseeker might've hit the side of the satellite when we left. I'm getting a mixed up radar signal."

MegaWing sidled up next to Heatseeker. "Take my wing," Kenji said. "I'll make sure you stay on course."

"Thanks."


	17. Vengeful Hostility

**Gundam MegaWing: After Colony 225**

**Chapter Seventeen: Vengeful Hostility**

"Where's the colony?" Meila asked when Lotus, Sparticus, and Atlantica had arrived at the indicated spot on their radar. "I don't see it anywhere. Just a whole lot of space junk."

"Open your eyes, Meila," Sandra said coldly. "That space junk _is the colony. The entire thing's destroyed."_

Isaac stared out at the cold, twisted metal floating around them. "Those Cyclones are long gone," he said. "I don't think anyone made it out before this place was destroyed. I'm not picking up any other craft in the area."

"Good thing the Preventers have another base," Sandra said. "At least they haven't been totally wiped out."

"You're a cruel bitch, you know that?" Meila snapped. "A lot of good people just lost their lives, and all you can say is, 'Oh, well, at least this didn't happen to everyone else'? What's your problem, anyway?"

"My problem?" echoed Sandra. "Listen, chica, I don't have to explain myself to you or anyone else. My business is my business, and my motives are my motives. Unlike you, I'm not particularly thrilled with this job. Our mission was to prevent the Cyclones from destroying the Preventer base, we failed, and that's that. End of story."

"Cut it out, you two," snapped Isaac. "Sandra, you seem to be forgetting, that unlike our colony, many of the people on XX19 were civilians who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. They're all dead now. And to top it off, the Cyclones have seemingly disappeared. We need to find out where they went."

"That's not part of the mission," Sandra said stubbornly. "What we need to do is report back to headquarters and wait for Quatre's next command."

"To hell with the mission!" shouted Isaac. "Like Meila said, a lot of good people just lost their lives, and damn it if I'm just going to let those Quietus bastards get away with it! Those people fought for what they believed in during the Eve Wars and the Mariemeia Incident, and they don't deserve to just be written off as nameless casualties in this war! Especially since they were destroyed by a bunch of mindless DOLLS. 

"But you know what? That's just what's going to happen. Ten years from now, when people talk about the Quietus Conflict, sure, our names will be in bold print in the textbooks, but what about all the other people who died? They won't get any recognition. They'll just be a statistic. No one will wonder, gee, did the bad guys just get away with killing them? Did the Gundams just write them off and go on their merry way? They won't wonder, because they won't care. Unless we make sure that Quietus _doesn't get away with it._

"So we have to track down those Cyclones. We have to wipe them out, before this incident gets repeated. Even if it means following their trail all the way back to their base."

"You're insane," Sandra hissed. "I don't care if you are in charge, I'm not going to do anything unless the command comes straight from the top. Do what you want, but I'm not sticking around the follow you. I'm going back to HQ."

"That's your decision," Isaac said. Already he was scanning for fuel residue from the Cyclones. Atlantica powered her thrusters and took off, heading back in the direction they had come form.

Lotus didn't move. "Aren't you going with her?" Isaac asked.

"Oh, right, I'm going to follow to ice queen," Meila said. "I'm with you, Isaac. Somebody needs to teach Quietus that mass murder is not an option in this fight. Besides, I want to try out this neat cannon."

Isaac grinned. "Well, you might just get your chance. I've got their trail. Come on."

"Lead the way," she said. 


	18. The Search

**Gundam MegaWing: After Colony 225**

**Chapter Eighteen: The Search**

Lady Une stared at the reports in front of her. "The resource satellite that Heatseeker and MegaWing were on, and the Preventer Colony Base have both been destroyed," she muttered. "And within half an hour of each other. The question is, were these two incidents separate, or connected in some way?"

"I doubt we'll know the answers," Preventer Dragon said over the vidlink that he had with his boss. "Sally and I can take time of our background check in MegaWing's pilot to find out, though. If there are answers out there, we'll figure it out."

Lady Une shook her head. "No. Neo-OZ has already laid claims on the investigation. I haven't told Quatre yet that we're investigating one of his pilots – who he thinks came from us. And Dorothy's kept her mouth shut, too."

"At any rate," Sally Po said from off screen, "if MW and Heatseeker didn't make it out of the satellite before it blew, no amount of background checks will matter. On that note, do you think we could get a picture of this kid? It might be easier once we know what he looks like."

"I'll talk to Dorothy," Une answered. "Anyway, I just wanted to update the two of you on the situation. Keep in touch."

Dragon nodded. "You, too, Lady Une."

When he'd terminated the connection, he turned to his partner. "She sounds worried."

Sally nodded. "I'd be, too, if I were in charge of the Preventers. But back to the original subject. Have you found anything in the L1 sector, Dragon?"

He shook his head. "No. And thank you for calling me by my codename."

She rolled her eyes. "I don't know why we have to do that, even when we're alone."

"You never know who might be around," Dragon answered. "Let's start checking L2."

"Already on it, but there's a glich in their system," Sally said. "Start L3 instead."

Meila and Isaac maneuvered their way around a large asteroid. "We're beginning to go off the starcharts," Meila told him. "We'll be leaving the L5 sector any second now. And after that, it's just a matter of time before we hit Mars."

"Well, I always wanted to see what the Red Planet looked like," Isaac said lightly.

"Isaac . . . I don't know if we'd have enough fuel to make it there and back," she said. "If we get stuck, we won't have any way of calling for help. Our comlinks don't have that large a range. We'll end up drifting. I think it's safe to say that the Cyclones made it back to base – they aren't going to pull the same stunt that they did before. Let's turn back and close this for the day. Getting ourselves hopelessly lost is not a good idea."

Isaac sighed. All the fight that he'd built up when arguing with Sandra had finally drained out of him, leaving him totally exhausted. "I guess you're right." 

He had barely gotten to words out when Sparticus' warning system began to go nuts. "Meila, are you picking up anything on radar?" he demanded.

"I don't have to look at the radar," she said, her voice shaking. "Look."

There, up ahead and seemingly appearing out of nowhere, was the hoard of Cyclone Mobile DOLLS that they had been searching for. 

Completely charged and ready for action, they headed straight towards the lone Neo-Gundams.


	19. Shadow Warrior

**Gundam MegaWing: After Colony 225**

**Chapter Nineteen: Shadow Warrior **

Isaac threw Sparticus to one side and managed to miss being blindsided by the nearest Cyclone. The DOLL immediately went into a spin and turned itself around, then shot towards him again. Growling under his breath, Isaac flipped open the emergency cover on the control panel and slammed his fist down on the button. 

The Cyclone and several of its brothers were blown backwards as Sparticus' shield exploded outward to its full capacity. Lotus ducked down and out of the range to avoid the same fate as the DOLLS were all destroyed from the impact of the electromagnetic shield. 

"Warn me next time you do that, Isaac!" Meila shouted over the intercom. "Aw, shit!" Lotus' side thrusters fired up and drew her to the right, but a passing Cyclone was somehow able to take off one arm. 

"Meila, are you okay?" Isaac demanded. 

"I'm fine," she called back. She turned to face the main hoard. "All right, you bastards, lets see how you can handle a little firepower." The dragon's head on Lotus' chest began to glow red, and the mouth opened as it charged. A minute later, a powerful blast of energy shot out from the open mouth and eradicated a third of the fleet. The remaining Cyclones paused, and seemed to be reconsidering their battle strategy. 

"Nice," Isaac said. "Can you do that again?"

"I have to let it cool down first," Meila replied. "Are you going to help me out here?" She'd removed her beam saber from its hiding place and was holding it ready.

Isaac unsheathed his own saber and moved as close to Lotus as he could without his shield slamming into her. He didn't dare take it down. 

The Cyclones seemed to make up their minds. In unison, they all turned towards the two Neo-Gundams. 

"I . . . don't like the looks of this," Isaac said. 

"Neither do I," Meila said. "We're out of radio range, aren't we?"

"Oh, definitely." 

The front line of DOLLS began to spin. 

"I take it that's how they got their name," Meila figured. 

"You don't want to get caught by them when they're like that. They can chew through the toughest metals – even Sparticus can't hold up against them," Isaac said. "Let's try to stay out of their way until they wind down."

"Easier said than done!" Lotus shot up and over the first few, but fell slightly when one of them managed to clip and engine. "DAMN IT!"

"Meila!" Isaac expanded his shield and threw his beam saber directly at one that had Lotus in its sights. The saber slammed into it and disrupted its spin, so when it collided with Lotus there wasn't that much damage. But it was enough to knock out the radio contact between the two Neo-Gundams. 

They were surrounded, and Lotus, the only one with any decent artillery, wasn't in the best of shape. 

Isaac braced himself for the worst. His shield was already beginning to fail.

Something sliced through a dozen or so Cyclones, and they immediately blew up.

"What the hell?!" he exclaimed, leaning forward in his chair. 

Another dozen exploded. 

The remaining paused. They were programmed to work as a team, but when part of the team was suddenly gone, they had to stop and refocus. And whoever was attacking them wasn't giving them any breaks.

Another dozen . . . gone.

"Isaac? Are you seeing this?"

The voice was sketching, but Isaac could hear Meila slightly. "Yeah. What's going on?"

"I have no idea." 

There were now about twenty DOLLS left. They were distributed sparsely, all of them seemingly inching away from whatever was attacking them. They were obviously picking up something that neither Neo-Gundam could track. 

Then the area in front of Sparticus and Lotus seemed to ripple. When asked about it later, Isaac couldn't really describe it. It was like if you threw a rock into a lake, and the water rippled outward from the point of impact. Only there was no impact, and it didn't really ripple in any precise pattern. 

But that wasn't the point.

"Is that . . . a Mobile Suit?"

"That's not just a Mobile Suit," Meila replied, "that's a Gundam. In fact, if I didn't know better – I'd say that was the Deathscythe HELL!" 

The devilish MS stood with its back turned to them. The shield that protected its front and back was raised, giving it was looked like a double pair of bat wings. And in its hand was a large, double-bladed thermal scythe. _No way, thought Isaac. __The Deathscythe HELL was destroyed thirty years ago. Everyone knows that. Duo Maxwell admitted it! That can't be the same damn Gundam!_

But it if wasn't the Deathscythe HELL . . . 

Isaac immediately began a scan on the Gundam's make and model. He expected it to be unregistered – Neo-OZ's MS directory didn't include the earlier Gundams. In fact, it only contained the Neo-Gundams, the worker MS that some of the colonies and resource satellites used, and the Quietus models. So he didn't expect a match.

"My God," Isaac whispered when the scan was complete. 

**SHINIGAMI. **

It was the long-lost Neo-Gundam Shinigami. 

The remaining twenty Cyclones were easy pickings for the Shinigami, which then turned its sights on the Neo-Gundams. It lifted its arm to reveal the claw that the Deathscythe HELL had been famous for and pointed it at them. 

"Wait!" Isaac shouted over the comlink. "We're friends! We're not with them!"

The pilot seemed to hesitate. The screen in front of Isaac turned blank, and instead of a picture of the cockpit, and single sentence appeared. 

I KNOW 

The Shinigami fired its thrusters, spun around, and flew off into space, leaving behind two very confused Neo-Gundams pilots. 

"Isaac?" Meila asked. "Can we go home now?"

"Yeah," Isaac said. "Let's get going." _And wait until I tell Quatre what just happened. He'll flip._


	20. Missing!

**Gundam MegaWing: After Colony 225**

**Chapter Twenty: Missing! **

"Quatre! Quatre, wake up!"

The pounding on the door, combined with the screaming outside of it, was enough to rouse Quatre from his otherwise perfect sleep. Groggily he threw back the covers and stumbled out of the bedroom. He opened the door slghtly. "Who – Dorothy?" He rubbed his eyes to make sure that they weren't playing tricks on him. "What's wrong?"

Dorothy was breathing heavily, and she looked like she was in shock. "You know that resource satellite Trente and Kenji went to? The one run by your sister Zoey?"

He nodded.

"It blew up."

Quatre froze, his hand inches away from covering a yawn. His jaw snapped shut and he blinked. "Run that by me again."

"We just got the word," Dorothy said. "The resource satellite exploded approximately one hour ago. A nearby colony got the whole thing on video, and they sent it to us, since the satellite was owned by Winner Corporations. We reviewed the tape. 

"Quatre, from the angle the colony camera was at, there was no way to tell if Heatseeker and MegaWing escaped the explosion."

He gripped the door frame.

Dorothy took a deep breath and smoothed her hair out of her face. "Communications have been trying to raise them, but they aren't answering. Either the two suits escaped and are headed here, or they were destroyed."

Quatre shook his head. "No. They had to have escaped." 

Dorothy bit her lip uncertainly. "Quatre . . . there might be something else."

He looked at her.

"About fifteen minutes ago, two "shooting stars" were reported to have entered the Earth's atmosphere within five minutes of each other. Une's already looking into it. But it might be them. It's very possible that they could've headed there after the explosion. One of the Gundams might have been injured from the shockwave or something." She looked at him sternly. "I'm not saying that you should get your hopes up. But there's still a chance."

He was silent for a few minutes. Then he raised his head to look at her. "Dorothy, how can I not get my hopes up?" he asked. "Trente is all I have left."

"Sir, Lotus and Sparticus have arrived back at headquarters."

Quatre looked up at the messenger in front of him. "Thank you. Please tell the office to come to my pilots immediately."

The messenger blinked. "Uh, yes, sir," she said uncertainly. She turned to leave, nearly running into Dorothy. 

Dorothy looked after the leaving messenger. "Quatre, do you know what you just said?"

Quatre looked at her blankly.

"You just told that girl to tell the office to come to your pilots," Dorothy said, raising an eyebrow. "Have you gotten _any sleep?"_

"Sleep?" Quatre frowned, his eyes red from exhaustion. "How can I sleep? God, Dorothy, Trente's out there somewhere. We have no way to tell if he's alive or dead, or what. He could be Quietus' prisoner, or he could be trapped in his Gundam, or he . . ."

"Could be with Kenji, and in perfect health," Dorothy cut in. "Quatre, I know how you feel. Trente's like a son to me, you know that. But you knew the risks of something like this happening when you agreed to let Trente become a pilot. Or I thought you did." 

Quatre leaned forward and rested his head on his hands. "Dorothy, I understand what you're saying. Really, I do. But being prepared for it and having it happen are two entirely different things."

Dorothy walked over to him and placed her hand on his arm, taking the seat next to the desk. "I know that. I went through the same thing when Treize died. I always knew that there was a possibility that he'd die in the Eve Wars, but when it finally happened . . . well, I was depressed for awhile. But Quatre, I bounced back. And there was a difference in that situation."

He looked at her.

"I saw Trieze die with my own eyes. There's no proof that Trente is dead. In fact, I came to give you some news. Une's photography experts have definitely concluded that those 'shooting stars' were actually spacecraft. Mobile suits or not is undetermined, but they weren't meteorites."

"So the chances of them being MegaWing and Heatseeker are better?" Quatre asked.

"Much better," Dorothy agreed. "Right now the Preventers are working on judging where they might have landed based on the information we have."

"But if they left the satellite fully fueled and in perfect condition, they could be anywhere in half of the planet," groaned Quatre.

"Not likely," Dorothy disagreed. "Those Gundams aren't small. Many areas can be ruled out due to population size. Trente and Kenji know that no one can see them. Right now, no one on Earth has thought of the possibility that the 'shooting stars' are Mobile Suits. We have to keep them thinking that. Until Une comes back with more information, that's all we can do."

Quatre reached for a half-full cup of coffee that sat on his desk. "Thank you, Dorothy," he said softly.

She stood up. "For what?"

"For not letting me go completely insane."

She smiled. "Any time, Quatre. Really."

The door flew open, and Meila and Isaac breathlessly ran into the office. They paused for a minute and saluted Quatre and Dorothy, then immediately began talking at once. Behind them, Sandra slipped into the room and stood silently at attention.

Quatre caught words such as 'Gundam', 'Cyclone' and 'Mars', but that was about it. "Easy, you two," he said, holding up his hands. "Close the doors and start over again. _Slowly, this time."_

Meila shoved the door shut while Isaac sat down and fidgeted uneasily while he waited for Meila to take a seat as well. 

"Go on," Quatre said.

"We arrived at the Preventer Colony Base, but it was completely gone," Meila said. "So Isaac and I decided to track down the squad of Cyclones that had destroyed it."

"I know that," Quatre said, frowning. "Sandra told us the whole thing. According to her, you disobeyed orders and went off on your own judgement."

Isaac glared at Sandra. "That's not quite what happened, but that's not important right now." He turned back to the commander. "Meila and I were about ready to turn around and come back when we did, finally, run into the Cyclones."

"And we were seriously outnumbered," Meila added, taking up the story again. "Our Gundams aren't in very good shape – we were lucky to make it back in one piece."

"If it was that bad," Sandra asked coldly, "how did you make it back? I doubt Quietus just _let you escape."_

"That's the amazing part," Isaac said, once again taking control. "Just as it looked like Neo-OZ would be short two Gundams, not to mention pilots, the Cyclones started to explode."

"Explode?" Dorothy, Quatre, and Sandra repeated simultaneously.

"Explode," Isaac confirmed. "At first we couldn't see anything, because it was cloaked, but then it dropped its cloak and we could see it perfectly."

"It looked _exactly like Deathscythe HELL," Meila said. "I'm serious. Right down to the wings and the scythe. So Isaac ran a scan on it, to see if it matched anything."_

"I wasn't expecting it to, but it did," Isaac said. "Quatre, it was the Shinigami."

Quatre sat up straight. "But that's impossible."

"Not really," Meila disagreed. "I did some thinking on the way back. No one knows what happened to the Shinigami prototype. Isn't it possible that whoever stole it and the blueprints finished it?"

"But those blueprints called for some serious equipment," Dorothy argued. "You can't just get that stuff from the store."

"Can I finish my story?" Isaac asked, frowning. They looked at him. "After the pilot destroyed the Cyclones, it turned to the two of us, like it was going to attack us. I conjured up a link and told the pilot that we weren't on Quietus' side."

"What did the pilot say?" Quatre asked.

"That's just it," Isaac said. "There wasn't a video link or anything. Just a blank screen on his side. And these two words appeared on the screen: I know. Whoever it was knew who we were."

"Artificial Intelligence?" Dorothy asked, looking at Quatre uncertainly.

Quatre shook his head. "We didn't install the full system into the prototype of the Shinigami," he said. "I only know a few people with the computer skills to be able to do something like that."

"Who?" Sandra asked. "Is it possible that they might've been the ones to take the Shinigami?"

"I don't see how, really," Quatre said. "The people I'm talking about are two of my fellow pilots, Heero Yuy and Duo Maxwell. I can't see them _stealing a Mobile Suit from me. Duo, at least, would've come to me himself if he'd had even a clue as to what I was doing. And Heero would've stuck with him. So it couldn't be either of them."_

"But other people have computer skills," argued Sandra. "It could've been anyone, really."

"So the Shinigami wasn't with Quietus?" Dorothy asked, slightly changing the subject.

"Definitely not," said Meila. "No Quietus agent would've destroyed their own Cyclones and left us standing."

"Where is it now?" Quatre wanted to know.

Isaac shrugged. "It took off after delivering that message. It was headed in the opposite direction we were, and we were in no shape to try to follow it. So we just came back here."

Sandra rolled her eyes and snorted, sharing her opinion of that move.

Meila spun around in her chair and narrowed her eyes at her. "Oh, so you'd approve a decision to go after an unknown MS on half-power, but not a hoard of Cyclones to avenge the casualties of our allies? You've got some twisted ideas of right and wrong, Martinez."

"Hey!" Quatre snapped. "Cut it out. Don't fight, you two. Not now."

For the first time, Isaac noticed how harried Quatre looked. "Hey, Quatre, are you feeling okay?" he asked. "You don't look so good."

Quatre sighed. "Dorothy, tell them."

"Kenji and Trente are missing," Dorothy replied. "The resource satellite they were on exploded, and we don't really know what happened to them. We think they went to Earth, but we're waiting for word from the Preventers before doing anything." 

Isaac looked shocked. "Missing? Those two?" He shook his head. "Geez."

"They aren't dead," Dorothy said sharply. "Don't let that get around." She placed her hand on Quatre's shoulder. The commander had started to look somewhat miserable again 

"I don't want any rumors spreading about this incident," Quatre said dismally. "Do what you can to discourage it. For now, just go on like everything's natural. But be ready to move out at a moment's notice."

"Aren't we always?" Isaac asked, standing up. "We'll be around, Quatre."

The three pilots left the office and headed for the cafeteria. For awhile they walked in silence, but Sandra, of all people, finally managed to break it. "I wonder why the Lieutenant stayed with the Commander back there," she said.

Isaac stopped. "What are you hinting at?" he asked sharply.

Sandra just looked at him.

"Forget it," Isaac practically growled. "Dorothy and Quatre are just friends. Quatre's going through a hard time with Trente missing – he practically raised the guy since birth. Let's not have that type of rumor going around, either."

"Besides, we've got more important things to deal with," Meila said, glaring Sandra. "Trente and Kenji are both missing. Now, I don't know the two of them very well, but from what I hear, they don't seem to be the type that would disappear easily."

"I don't know Kenji too well myself," Isaac admitted. "But you're right. Trente definitely isn't the type, and Kenji didn't seem to be. Something rough must've happened."

"I wonder why the resource satellite exploded," murmured Sandra. "Quietus, maybe?"

"Who knows?" Isaac shrugged. 

"Well, I'm curious," Meila admitted. "I bet we could find out some specifics by checking the computer files."

"And how do you propose we do that?" Sandra asked, rolling her eyes. "None of us are computer experts. We can't hack into the database."

"We don't have to," Isaac said. "Trente had a passcode. I swiped it awhile ago. All we have to do is find a working terminal."

The girls looked at him in surprise. "Well?" he asked, grinning. "You in?"

They glanced uneasily at each other, then nodded. 


	21. MegaWing Found

**Gundam MegaWing: After Colony 225**

**Chapter Twenty-One: MegaWing Found**

Kenji groggily opened his eyes and looked around. He was still in MegaWing's cockpit, that much was for certain, but he wasn't in space anymore. He struggled to sit up and winced as intense pain ripped through his right shoulder. Biting his lip, he turned his head to try and get a better look, but it was pitch black inside and the only thing he could be certain of was that he was bleeding. 

He felt around for the release mechanism for the hatch, and slammed his foot on the general location of it. There was a soft hiss, and the hatch opened. Kenji braced himself, and hoped that wherever he was, there was air. 

A cool breeze wafted in, and bright beams of sunlight caught him directly in the eyes. He turned his head again, and noticed that now, at least, he could see his shoulder. 

A large gash ran from the top of the shoulder, down his right bicep, and ended just above the elbow. The blood that flowed from it had, for the most part, congealed, but a few places had yet to scab over. Kenji winced when he imagined what other damage there might be, to the muscle and to the bone. The sooner he got to a doctor, the better. But for now, he'd have to rely on the skills his father had taught him. 

_Thank God for Dad, Kenji thought as he pulled himself one-handed out of the cockpit. He tore off a piece of his uniform and wrapped it around his arm, making it into a semi-sling. __The man can practically set a broken leg on his own – I think I should be able to handle a little flesh wound like this. _

Kenji hauled himself to his feet and looked around, shielding his eyes from the bright glare of the sun with his hand. MegaWing lay sprawled in the middle of a forest – a dense forest, thankfully, although people had probably heard the resounding crash once it'd landed. Depending on how far away the nearest town was would depend on when someone found the Gundam, but there was nothing Kenji could do about that. MegaWing would eventually be discovered – the controls were totaled. Desperately Kenji tried to remember what it was that had caused him to crash.

_I remember entering Earth's atmosphere, he thought. __I also remember that my atmospheric shields didn't go up . . . no . . . He looked down at the metal hide of MegaWing. If his shields hadn't gone up, the Gundanium should've been at least a little scorched. But he distinctly remembered an alarm blaring that shields refused to respond . . . _

_Trente! Kenji thought, gasping at the sudden recollection. Heatseeker, who had been damaged by the shockwave of the explosion of the resource satellite, had failed to activate its own shields, and had trigged a secondary alarm in MegaWing for help. But in the atmosphere, MegaWing had been unable to maneuver quickly enough, and the other Neo-Gundam had slammed into it. "That accounts for the cockpit," muttered Kenji. "But where's Trente?"_

A quick scan of the immediate area revealed that the other Neo-Gundam was nowhere close by. Even in this forest, if another mobile suit had slammed into the ground, there would've been some sign. Flattened trees, distraught animals, a cry for help . . . all Kenji could see in the distance was the ocean.

"Oh, please don't let that mean he landed in the ocean," Kenji groaned. "Kami-sama, please let him be okay. _Trente!" _

Suddenly he shut up. Distantly he could hear the sound of voices coming towards him. _Just as I thought, Kenji realized. __Somebody saw us crash. MegaWing'll be all over the newspapers in a matter of hours, and unless I get out of here, it's back to L2 for me. And I'll be damned if I'm going back to that orphanage. Kenji patted his side and was relieved to find that his pistol was still secure under his uniform jacket. Holding his injured arm close to his body, he ran down the length of MegaWing and leaped off at the lowest point, hitting the ground on both feet and hurrying to the cover of the trees. He pressed himself up against a tree trunk and peered around it just as the first people stepped into the newly formed clearing._

"My God!" one man gasped, eyes wide. "It's a Mobile Suit!"

"It looks like it's been through hell and back," muttered a second. He approached the side of MegaWing and rested his hand against it. "I wonder if its a Mobile DOLL or if there was a pilot inside."

"Easiest way to find out is to check the cockpit," the first man said. "You want a lift up?" 

The second man shook his head. "Hell no! This thing could be set to self-destruct or something."

"You men are such babies," a low female voice said as another person stepped out into the clearing. Kenji thought she looked somewhat familiar. He'd seen that face somewhere before . . . 

"And I suppose you're willing to climb on up there and take a look, Boss?" the first man asked. 

"How old are you, Keene?" the woman asked.

Keene was startled. "Uh . . . twenty-seven."

"Then you weren't even born during the Eve Wars," the woman said, shaking her head. "I supposed as much – otherwise you would've recognized this. What about you, Drew?"

"I'll be thirty-five next month," Drew said proudly. "And I was alive during the Eve Wars." Then he looked slightly shamed. "But, well, my parents tried to keep me sheltered from everything."

"Do either of you know what this is?" When neither man admitted, she sighed. "It's a Gundam, guys. A first-class, prime-condition – mostly – Gundam Mobile Suit. Modeled after the legendary Wing Zero, I'd say."

"You sure about that, Hilde?" asked Drew. "I mean, the Gundams . . . they were all destroyed. And in this time of peace . . ."

Kenji's eyes widened. _That's where he remembered that woman! Hilde Schbieker, who used to run a scrap-shop with his father. She'd attended each and every one of his birthday parties up until age six, when she'd moved to Earth and the Lowes had packed up and moved from L1 to L2 to start an orphanage. _

"I never said it was one of _the Gundams – it's a newer model. There were only five, originally. The sixth, Epyon, was added later on in the Wars." Hilde raked her fingers through her short black hair. "But this is definitely a Gundam. And no Gundam is a Mobile DOLL. Judging from the shape its in, its pilot couldn't have gotten very far unless he himself was made from Gundanium." She frowned, obviously troubled about something._

"We could make a fortune off of this thing," Keene whispered. "The press would eat it up. A war Gundam crashing on Earth, probably from the colonies, during a time of peace. They'd pay millions to run the story and speculations!"

"Shut up!" snapped Hilde. "No one's going to make a fortune off of this Gundam. We're not even going to touch it until the Foreign Minister takes a look at it. Drew, go back to the car, radio back to the office and have them contact Minister Dorilan. Have them tell her we located one of the meteorites and that she should come take a look at it. Got that?"

Drew nodded. "Got it." He headed back in the direction they'd come from, presumably towards the car. 

Kenji's mind was quickly working out the details. Relena Dorilan was the Foreign Minister, and if she was nearby, that would put the Sanq Kingdom within fifty miles from here. And that was where Hilde had moved to, he was almost certain. But what puzzled him was Hilde's decision to keep this whole thing a secret. Did she know about Quietus and the Neo-Gundams? 

"I don't get it, Boss," Keene said, frowning. "Why all the hush-hush?"

"You don't get it, do you?" Hilde snapped. "If this Gundam is here, there must be a reason. And someone must've built it, too, you realize. The scientists who designed the originals are all dead, so I'm clueless as to who would have the technology, but nevertheless, they did. And they used it. Right now, all I'm concerned about is the location of the pilot. He's out there somewhere, maybe hurt badly."

"I thought Gundam pilots were supposed to be able to take care of themselves," muttered Keene. "That's what they taught me in school."

Hilde looked at him shrewdly. "You've never had to live through a war, Keene. Not even a perfect soldier could take care of himself one hundred percent of the time."

Kenji bit the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling. Then he realized that Hilde was downright determined to locate him. If he moved, she'd see him, and if he didn't, she'd find him when she searched the area. 

He decided to save her the trouble.

"Why, thank you, miss, but as you can see I'm more or less in one piece," he said, stepping out from behind the tree and holding his arm gingerly. "Mr. Keene, do you mind not touching my Mobile Suit?" Stunned, Keene stepped away from the side of MegaWing. "Arigato."

Hilde stared at him. "You're the pilot of this suit?" she asked, surprised. "But you're a kid!" 

"Sixteen years old in about seven weeks, ma'am," Kenji replied politely. "And why are you surprised? Heero Yuy, Duo Maxwell, Quatre Winner, Trowa Barton, and Wufei Chang were all fifteen when they fought in the Eve Wars. The only difference is that I chose to do this, rather than get forced into it."

"Did you build this?" Keene asked.

"No."

"Who did?"

Kenji frowned at him. "You ask too many questions, you know that? Personally, I think it would just be a good idea if you turned around and walked out of here, and left me to talk with Ms. Schbieker alone. From what I gathered from your conversation, the Foreign Minister will be here in no time, and I'd like to talk to your boss before then."

Keene looked indignant and somewhat put out, but he looked over at Hilde. "Go on," she said, nodding in the direction of the car. "Go see if Drew had any trouble contacting the office." When he didn't move, she narrowed her eyes at him. "_Move."_

Keene glanced at Kenji and muttered something under his breath, but he did as he was ordered. The minute Hilde was certain the younger man was out of earshot, she turned to the pilot in front of her.

"Kenji Solo Lowe, do you have any idea how _frantic your parents have been?" she demanded hotly. "A week after you took off I got a phone call from them, asking if I'd seen you. And they call every couple of weeks after that. It breaks my heart every time I have to tell them that no, I don't have a clue where my godson is." She clenched her fist and propped it on her hip. "Do you mind telling me what the __hell is going on?"_

Kenji sighed and looked up at MegaWing. "It's a long story, Aunt Hilde. Is Ms. Relena really on her way?"

"Hell yeah," Hilde said. "That phone call I had Drew place was just to get him out of here. She's already on her way with a transport. We guessed the minute we got the 'shooting star' reports that they were two of the Neo-Gundams."

Kenji looked surprised. "How do you know about the Neo-Gundams? And do Dad and Pops know?" 

"No, Odin and Tobias don't have a clue," snapped Hilde. "I didn't even find out until I came to the Sanq Kingdom a few years ago. Relena told me some of the story, but I don't know much."

"How did she know?" Kenji asked, confused.

"How do you think the money to build eight MS was raised?" Hilde demanded. "Lady Une asked Relena to back the project. Relena and I know that the Preventers weren't the ones building them, though – maybe you can shed some light on that subject."

"Not here, not now," Kenji said bluntly. "I don't quite trust those people of yours. At least, I don't like Keene."

"I don't remember you being this paranoid," Hilde muttered. 

"It's in the blood," Kenji replied, grinning. "How long until the transport gets here, and can MegaWing be salvaged?"

"MegaWing? Is that what it's called?" Hilde looked up at it and scanned over it. "I'd have to take a closer look but, yeah, it can be fixed. It doesn't look like there's much structural damage." She turned back to him, and Kenji was relieved to see that all of her previous anger had disappeared. "What about that arm?"

"A doctor would be nice," Kenji admitted, "but I gotta get going as soon as possbile."

"Oh, no, you don't," Hilde said, shaking her head. "The minute we get this thing to a safe place, I'm calling your parents and telling them where you are. They've been worried sick over you for the last year – your dad had a relapse, did you know that?"

Kenji shook his head, his heart aching. Five years ago, a car accident had put his Dad in a wheelchair. He'd been making slow but steady progress in regaining the use of his legs, but a relapse . . . "How is he?"

"Back in the chair," Hilde said. She sighed. "I don't know how Tobias puts up with him. Then again, those two are some of the strongest people I've ever known. But I do know that they don't deserve to be worried sick over you anymore. They deserve to know where you are. Why'd you leave, anyway?"

Kenji shrugged. "I just needed to get out on my own," he said. "Living at the orphanage – it's tough, you know. Especially considering all the flake I get at school. You know, for not having a mom and being a test-tube baby and everything. My schoolmates treated me like a freak. I needed to get away from all of that."

"And now?" Hilde looked at him curiously. 

"Now I've met people who don't know my past," he said. He looked at her. "I told them I was an orphan, that my parents had died when I was younger. I told them that the directors of the orphanage had taught me to pilot a mobile suit. Aunt Hilde, they don't know who I really am – the name Kenji Lowe means nothing to them. If they knew . . ." He drew in a deep breath. "Never mind. That's not important right now."

"Oh?" Hilde raised an eyebrow. "And what is?"

"When I entered the atmosphere, I had a friend with me," Kenji replied. "In another Gundam, the Heatseeker. It's a 03 model-type. But when I regained consciousness, he was gone. You said that you tracked the 'shooting stars' – do you know where the second one landed?"

Hilde nodded grimly. "In the Sea of Japan."

Kenji felt like he'd been punched in the stomach. "What?"

"It landed in the Sea of Japan," Hilde said. "We decided to come after this one instead of dealing with red tape to try and get to that one. Unless he ejected, your friend is probably dead."

_Trente, dead? Dead? Kenji realized that he was shaking, but whether it was from fear, shock, exhaustion, or a combination of all three, he didn't know. And he didn't care. Trente might be dead – dead because Kenji had been unable to help him. Most Gundam cockpits weren't waterproof, Atlantica being the only exception. And Heatseeker, with all of its artillery, would sink like a rock. It all depended on whether Trente had been conscious or not once he'd left the atmosphere . . . Kenji realized that he had fallen to his knees, and Hilde had wrapped her arms around him._

"Shh," she whispered to the sobbing boy. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make it sound that way. By now Relena's contacted the Preventers about it – they'll probably have it recovered in no time."

"Doesn't matter," Kenji said, his voice muffled by Hilde's shoulder. "Heatseeker . . . the cockpit . . . Trente, he wouldn't have survived. And Heatseeker was already . . . already damaged . . ." He squeezed his eyes shut. _I will stop crying I will stop crying I will stop crying I will stop crying . . . _

"Don't you dare go pulling that 'boys don't cry' crap on me, Kenji Lowe," Hilde said. "I won't tell anyone. I take it this boy was a good friend of yours?"

Kenji wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and shrugged. "I only knew him for a couple of days. But yeah, I guess you could call him a good friend. He didn't seem to mind being around me, at least." He winced as Hilde tightened her hold on him, and on his injured arm. "He's got to be okay, Aunt Hilde. It would kill the commander if he wasn't."

Hilde pulled away form him and furrowed her brow in confusion. "Commander?"

Before Kenji could answer, the sound of a helicopter could be heard coming over the trees. "That was quick," Hilde muttered. "I wasn't expecting Relena for another thirty minutes."

They could see the helicopter heading for them, and Kenji started getting an uneasy feeling in his stomach. He pulled himself out of Hilde's arms and ran for MegaWing's leg. Flipping open a small compartment, he removed a pair of binoculars and lifted them up to the sky. 

Rather than see the emblem of the Sanq Kingdom on the side of the helicopter, Kenji was rewarded with a giant silver Q and an open door. 

Sitting in the open doorway was a man carrying a large laser gun. 

"Shit!" he shouted. "That's not Relena!" Kenji dropped the binoculars and grabbed Hilde's arm. "We've got to get out of here!"

"And leave the Gundam?" Hilde looked confused. "Kenji, what's going on?"

"Never mind that . . . they found me!" He looked up at the helicopter, obviously frightened. "And in a few minutes we'll be in range of that laser gun they're pointing at us."

Hilde looked at him for a total of three seconds. Then they were running into the woods, away from the Neo-Gundam and the Quietus agents that pursued them. 

_Trente, Kenji thought, __wherever you are – be glad it's not here._


	22. Deja Vu

**Gundam MegaWing: After Colony 225**

**Chapter Twenty-Two: Deja Vu**

On a beach in Japan, a woman in her mid-forties was gazing out over the sunset. Her red hair curled around her face, accenting her ice-blue eyes and making them seem even lighter than they already were. Behind her, her younger brother was under the hood of their truck, trying to figure out why the damn thing wouldn't start. 

"Better  hurry up with that, or we won't make it back in time for the show," the woman called. "Manager won't be too happy if we miss it. This'll be the first time the newbies will be performing."

"We'll make it, Catherine," the man said, running his hand across his forehead and wiping the sweat from his brow. "Just give me a few more minutes – I think I've almost got this thing fixed."

"Okay," Catherine said, standing up. "I'm going to go for a walk along the shore, so I'll be back in a little while. If you don't have this thing ready by the time I get back, I'm not going to be happy."

Her brother cringed, knowing what his sister could be like when she was upset. Forty-seven and single, Catherine Bloom was not someone you wanted to mess with. Especially considering how well she could throw knives. Triton Bloom sighed and adjusted his eyepatch before returning to the engine.

_Everything seems so peaceful, Catherine thought as she walked along the shore, the incoming tide causing water to swell around her feet. It had been awhile since the circus had been in this particular part of Japan, but every time they did make it, she always made certain that she would return to this particular beach. It was, in her opinion, one of the prettiest beaches she'd ever been to. _

Something out in the water caught her eye. The sunlight glinted off of what appeared to be a piece of metal, and had thrown the gleam right in her line of sight. Catherine paused and shielded her eyes to try and get a better look. The water was fairly shallow in that part, so whatever it was seemed to be sticking out of the water slightly. 

All she could see was a piece of red metal, and a number etched on the side. "What the…03?" Catherine's heart started pounding for some strange reason, and she forced herself to run to the jetty that ran alongside the metal object about twenty feet away. She stopped at the edge and knelt down to try and see it better. 

It was a Mobile Suit! 

"_Triton!" Catherine shouted for her brother, and then didn't bother to wait for him to come. The mobile suit seemed to be mangled, and were she assumed the cockpit had been was halfway out of the water. But if enough water had gotten in there…_

Catherine swam over to the area and gripped the side of the cockpit door, pulling with all her might. There was already a crack running in it, allowing water to pass through. Behind her, she heard a splash that indicated that her brother was on his way.

"Move aside, Cathy," Triton said, gripping the side and pulling. His muscles bulged as he used all of his strength to yank the door open enough to try and get the pilot…there had to be a pilot, this wasn't a Mobile DOLL…out. 

The door opened, and a sheet of water poured out. Catherine breathed a sigh of relief as she noticed that there wasn't nearly enough to fill the cockpit. If the MS had landed any further out than it did, the pilot would've been a goner.

Triton was in the cockpit and unhooking the pilot from his seat. The cockpit was in shambles, and he had come very close to being crushed. Together, brother and sister managed to get him to shore. 

"He's kind of small to be a pilot, isn't it?" Catherine asked as Triton worked to get the space helmet off his head. "And what sort of Mobile Suit do you think that was, Triton? It was too mangled to be recognizable."

"I haven't a clue, Cathy," Triton replied, his long brown hair sticking to his skin from the water. He finally managed to get the helmet off, and he looked down at the pilot. "My God."

"He's just a boy!" Catherine gasped as she looked at the youthful face of the unconscious pilot. His brownish-blond hair was plastered against his head thanks to the helmet, but he appeared to be breathing. "You know, he looks kind of familiar…"

Triton brushed the boy's hair out of his face and looked at him. He seemed to be sleeping, almost. "I've got the truck fixed," he said. "Let's take him back to the circus and get him out of these wet clothes."

Catherine helped Triton lift the boy, and looked at the emblem embroidered on the sleeve of the boy's dark blue jacket. "'Neo-OZ'," she read. She looked up at Triton. "What's going on here?"

Triton shook his head. "I don't know. But right now, our only priority is him. Come on, Cathy."

Catherine looked out at the mangled MS one last time, then followed her brother back to the truck. 


	23. Trente

**Gundam MegaWing: After Colony 225**

**Chapter Twenty-Three: Trente**

Trente slowly opened his eyes and looked around. He was in some sort of trailer, lying on a couch. From he was, he could see a kitchenette, a bathroom, and a couple of closed doors that must have been bedrooms. Gritting his teeth, he pulled himself into a sitting position – and immediately wondered where his uniform had gone. 

Clad in a pair of shorts and a tank-top that were a little too big for him, Trente Nanashi searched the room and found, to his relief, his pants, shirt and jacket hanging over a couple of chairs near a heater. _I crashed, he suddenly remembered. __Heatseeker…what happened to it? Where am I?_

"Hey, you shouldn't be trying to get up," a woman's voice said from the direction of the bedrooms. Trente looked over at her. "I'm Catherine Bloom. My brother and I found you in your Mobile Suit, on the beach. Your suit's underwater, though."

Trente looked at this woman, with her curly red hair and kind blue eyes. "Where am I?" his voice slightly hoarse. "How long was I out?"

"A few hours," Catherine replied. "And you're in the trailer I share with my brother, at the circus. What's your name?"

"My name?" Trente bit his lip. _What do I tell her? Seeing as how coming up with a cover story would take too long, he said, "Trente. Trente Nanashi."_

"That's a nice name," Catherine said, smiling and sitting in a chair next to the couch. "So, what were you doing in a Mobile Suit? There aren't supposed to be anymore, you know."

"I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you." Trente stood up and walked steadily over to his uniform, which he began to pull on. "Thank you for helping me, but I really need to get going." 

"Sit down."

The deep, masculine tenor surprised Trente, and caused the youth to spin around. Doing so threw him slightly off balance, and he had to grip the chair his jacket had been on to keep from falling over. 

Framed in the doorway of the trailer was a tall, muscular man with long brown hair which was pulled away from his face in a ponytail and piercing green eyes. Well, eye, considering the other one was covered by an eyepatch. There was something familiar about him…it was as if Trente had seen him somewhere before. 

"I'm Triton Bloom, Catherine's brother," the man said. "I have a few questions for you, Trente Nanashi. For starters – what is Neo-OZ?"

Trente stared at the older man. "I'm not permitted to speak about anything," Trente replied. "I'm assuming you got that name from my jacket, and not because anyone told you."

Triton nodded. 

Trente pulled his jacket on and looked at him. "I'm leaving, and you're not going to stop me."

"But you're still injured!" Catherine protested.

Trente started to walk towards the door, ignoring the fact that Triton still blocked it. But after a couple of steps, he started to feel extremely dizzy and nearly collapsed. Fortunately, Triton had excellent reflexes, and managed to stop the Trente's descent.

Trente sighed and allowed himself to be led back over to the couch. "Could you get me the phone, please?" he asked. "I have to make a call."

Catherine handed him the receiver, and Trente dialed in a number. Triton realized that it was a space call. "Hello? May I please speak with Mr. Winner? Yes, it's an emergency." 


	24. Revelations

**Gundam MegaWing: After Colony 225**

**Chapter Twenty-Four: Revelations**

"Mr. Winner? There's a phone call for you on line three."

Quatre looked up from the file he was going to. "Who is it?"

His secretary just shook her head. "He won't give me his name, and he says it's an emergency."

Quatre was busy playing the part of the corporate executive, so he was in the vast office in the Winner Corporation building. Hence the reason he was being referred to as 'Mr. Winner' rather than 'Commander'. Sighing, Quatre picked up the phone. "Quatre Winner here."

"Quatre?"

"Trente?!" At the sound of his ward's voice, Quatre sat straight up and gripped the side of his desk. "Where are you?! Are you hurt?! What happened?! How's Kenji?!"

Trente started to laugh, then cut himself off as it hurt to much to do so. "I'm fine, Heatseeker crashed, and I don't know where Kenji is. We were separated after coming through the atmosphere."

Quatre sighed. "Where are you?"

Trente covered the speaker with his hand, and Quatre could hear him speaking to someone in the same room as him. Then he got back on the phone. "A circus near Kyoto," replied Trente. "A couple of the people who work here found me and got me out of my MS before I could drown." Then his voice lowered a couple of notches. "Quatre, they're asking a lot of questions. They saw the 'Neo-OZ' emblem on my jacket. I don't think I'm going to be able to get out of here without telling them something." 

Quatre drummed his fingers on the desk. "Don't tell them anything. Stay right there. I'm taking the first shuttle to Earth, and I'm picking you up myself."

"What about searching for Kenji?" Trente asked. "And Quietus?"

"I'll leave the search up to Dorothy, and Isaac, Meila, and Sandra can handle Quietus until we get back. Now. Where is Heatseeker, so I can get the Preventers to pick it up?" 

"In the shallows of a secluded beach south of Kyoto," Trente replied. "You can't miss it, but fortunately not many people go there, according to Ms. Bloom. She's one of the people who found me."

Quatre froze up. "Ms…Bloom, you said?"

"Yeah."

The Neo-OZ commander drew in a shuddering breath. "I'll see you in a couple of hours, Trente." He said good-bye, and then hung up the phone.

He walked out of his office and looked at his secretary. "Celeste, I'm going to be taking off early. Do me a favor and call for my private shuttle, okay? I have an urgent matter on Earth that I must attend right away." 

Celeste, who was also a member of Neo-OZ, had a good idea what this 'urgent matter' was, and immediately made the arrangements. 

"Hey, you two, did you hear?"

Isaac and Sandra looked up from where they were crowded around Isaac's laptop and stared at Meila. "What is it?" Isaac asked the Chinese pilot, who was practically bouncing around the room with excitement.

"They found Trente!" 

"That's great!" Isaac grinned at Sandra, who actually managed to defrost long enough to flash him a small smile. "Now it's time for us to tell you what we discovered."

"What?" Meila walked over to join them. "The Preventers? What's that about?"

"It's a list of everyone who is and used to be in the Preventers," Sandra replied. She scrolled down. "See. Heero Yuy, Duo Maxwell, Quatre Winner, Trowa Barton, and Wufei Chang are all listed. Files on Yuy, Maxwell, Winner, and Barton are erased, which means they aren't in the group anymore. But Chang still has an open file, and it's sealed, meaning he's an active agent."

"I was curious, so I dug a little deeper and hacked into the personal files of Sally Po, alias Water. She used to be Chang's partner, according to public record. She's been pretty busy lately." Isaac tapped a key, and a new screen appeared. "These are searches of the various Colony Clusters, and she's been running a search through."

"A search?" Meila frowned, confused. "Of what?" 

"Kenji  Lowe," replied Sandra. "The Preventers are checking up on his background."

"But why? I thought he came from them. Wouldn't they already have done a check up?" Meila asked.

"He's not listed in any directory," Isaac replied. "I don't think Lowe was ever part of the Preventers."

"You mean…"

"Yup." Isaac nodded and crossed his arms over his chest. "He lied to us."

"Why would he do that, though?" Sandra asked, shaking her head. "It doesn't make sense."

"I know," Isaac agreed. "But there must be a reason. And I'm going to find out. I know for a fact that before Quatre tests out a pilot, he gets blood sample from them and their DNA is coded in the files. If I can get that DNA coding, I can run it through these same searches and see if we come up with any matches."

"But I thought Kenji was an orphan," Sandra said.

"Duh, Sandy," Meila replied, rolling her eyes. "If he lied about the Preventers, he probably lied about that, too. Go for it, Isaac."

Isaac cracked his knuckles, bent over the keyboard, and got to work. 


	25. And the Truth Gets Closer

**Gundam MegaWing: After Colony 225**

**Chapter Twenty-Five: And the Truth Gets Closer…**

Relena Dorilan sat at her desk, reading a file that had just been brought to her. Being the Vice Foreign Minister wasn't easy, especially considering all the 'extra' stuff she did that the public – and most of her advisers – didn't know about. 

_So the suit's been recovered and taken to a secure location, thought Relena. __I hope Lady Une calls me back soon. That woman has a lot of explaining to do._

There was a buzz on her intercom, and her secretary's voice wafted in. "Ms. Dorilan, Hilde Schbieker is here to see you, ma'am."

Relena smiled. "Send her in."

A minute later the door opened, and Hilde walked in. Relena's eyes widened as she took in her friend's appearance. Hilde's clothes were muddy and torn, and her hair was tangled and mussed. Her leg was bleeding slightly, staining her pants. "Hilde, what happened?!" Relena cried, standing up.

"A long story," Hilde groaned, sinking into a chair. "Have you talked to Une yet?"

"I'm still waiting for  her to call me back," Relena replied. "Now tell me what's going on."

"I'm not sure," Hilde replied. "But he can tell you more."

Relena finally noticed the figure standing in the doorway. He was as scratched up as Hilde, but not to the point where she couldn't recognize him. For a minute, she felt as if she'd been thrown into the past, and had to remind herself what year it was. That in mind, she knew exactly who the person was.

"Kenji Lowe," she murmured. "It's been awhile." 

Somewhere on L2 . . .

"Would you _cut it out?" Tobias Lowe snapped as he covered the receiver of the phone to hiss quietly to the eight-year-old and seven-year-old running around the kitchen table. "Go into the living room and watch television with the rest of the kids." Since the Lowes rarely allowed the orphans to watch television during the day, this immediately got the rugrats out of the room. Tobias pushed a strand of chestnut hair out of his eyes and turned back to the phone. "Yes, Mrs. Whitman, you can come down and meet the children. There are a couple within the age bracket you're looking for, but I agree, it's better to get to know them before making any decisions. Even if you just decide to foster one or two of them, it would be a big help." He paused. "Yes, I'll be here all day. Come over anytime. Yes. Yes. You have a nice day, too, Mrs. Whitman. Good-bye." Tobias hung up the phone and scrawled something on a piece of paper. "Why can't she ever make up her mind? First she wants a baby, then a teenager, now a toddler – every time she calls she has something different in mind!"_

A low chuckle came from the kitchen door, and Tobias looked up to see his husband sitting in his wheelchair in the doorway. "Odin!" Tobias said in surprise. He glanced at the clock. "It's not even noon yet. Since when do you get out of bed this early?"

"I'm not a complete invalid, Tobias," Odin replied, wheeling over him. He kissed him softly, then glanced at the pad of paper. "Mrs. Whitman again?" he asked.

"Yeah," Tobias replied, taking Odin's hand. "She wants to meet the kids now. Maybe that's a good sign." 

"Maybe," Odin agreed. He sighed. "Adoptions have been scarce lately, and we've been getting requests to take in more and more orphans. Suddenly this house doesn't seem as big as it used to be. We're running out of room."

Both of them fell silent as they thought of the large room that had stood empty for the last year. Neither of them had the heart to redecorate it and give it to a few of the orphans. They still held out hope. "Hey, did you hear what's got the Earth Sphere in a panic?" Tobias asked lightly, getting their minds off of their son. 

"No, what?" Odin looked at him through thick, chocolate-brown bangs. 

"Supposedly some meteorites fell through the Earth's atmosphere, but no one's been able to find them in the areas they landed in," Tobias said, grinning. "People are thinking back to Operation Meteor."

Odin rolled his eyes and shook his head as he went over to the refrigerator to get something to drink. "It's been 30 years, and some people _still don't believe the Gundams were destroyed."_

"Some of them were saying that they were rebuilt," Tobias replied. "These meteorites supposedly landed near the Sank Kingdom and in the Sea of Japan."

"Sank Kingdom?" Odin raised an eyebrow. "If they were Mobile Suits, I think we'd have heard about it from Relena." The phone rang, and he went back to getting breakfast together while Tobias answered the phone.

When he maneuvered the wheelchair around, he caught the expression on Tobias' face. His skin was white, and his violet eyes had gone wide with shock. "What's wrong?"

Tobias looked at him. "It's Kenji," he whispered hoarsely. 


	26. Ghosts of the Past

**Gundam MegaWing: After Colony 225**

**Chapter Twenty-Six: Ghosts of the Past **

Quatre's heart started to pound the minute the taxicab pulled up to the circus entrance. The crowd was beginning to diminish after the last show that night, and circus workers were already beginning to clean up. Paying the driver, Quatre climbed out of the car and headed for the entrance. 

"I'm sorry, but the circus is closed for the evening," the ticket taker said when Quatre stepped forward. "Our next show is tomorrow, at 5. You'll have to come back then."

"I'm not here for the show," Quatre said, shaking his head. "A…member of my family is supposed to be here. A couple people who work here found him injured, and I've only just managed to get here to pick him up."

The ticket taker's eyes widened. "Oh, _you're the one they told me to watch for! Quatre Winner, right?"_

Quatre nodded, grimacing inwardly. _It would've been real easy for Quietus to impersonate me and pick up Kenji themselves. I doubt this person knows how 'Quatre Winner' is. _

"Go right on in, sir," the ticket taker said, opening the gate. "Third trailer on the right behind the tent. Probably the only one with lights on right now. You can't miss it."

"Thank you," Quatre said, smiling slightly. He stepped through the gate and starting walking in the direction the ticket taker had pointed in. As he walked, he thought back to another circus, one he had spent a good deal of his teenage years at. He could almost picture himself and the other pilots, getting ready to watch the show. Heero would be sitting there, glancing over at Duo in a way that said 'I'm not _trying to be interested in what you're doing, but I really can't help it'. Wufei would be paying strict attention to the acts, ignoring everyone around him. Duo would be swallowing every piece of popcorn and candy he could get his hands on, and would be unable to sit still. And Quatre…Quatre would be on the edge of his seat, both anticipating and dreading the act that always had his heart in his throat as he watched it…_

Quatre shook his head, snapping himself back to reality. He'd stopped in the middle of the yard in his daydream, and now picked up the pace as he rounded the tent and spotted the trailers. Sure enough, only a couple had their lights on, and one of them was the third trailer on the right. Taking a deep breath, Quatre approached the door and knocked swiftly. _It doesn't have the be her. Bloom…it's a common name…_

The door opened slightly, and Quatre found himself staring into a familiar pair of ice blue eyes. _By Allah…_

"Yes?" Catherine asked inquisitively. 

Quatre drew in a deep breath. "Hello. I'm looking for a boy by the name of Trente Nanashi. He called earlier and said that he was staying here."

The door opened wider. "Yes! He's right in the other room. We just finished up dinner, and…" She focused on Quatre's face, and froze. "Oh. My. Lord." 

"Catherine," Quatre said with certainty. 

"Quatre," Catherine breathed. She stared at him for a minute, them shook her head and stepped to the side. "Come in, come in! Don't just stand there, come in! I'll go get Trente." She closed the door behind him and hurried into the next room.

Quatre stood in the middle of the living room, looking around uncertainly. It was nearly identical to the way he remembered it. Some of the furniture had been replaced, and the walls had been painted, but it was basically the same. Right down to the wall of pictures over the couch. Hesitantly, Quatre stepped over to them.

And there they were. Front and center, mounted in a wooden frame, was a picture of all five Gundam pilots. It was the same picture that Quatre had, only one difference – this picture contained Trowa Barton. Quatre scanned the other pictures, and noticed that Trowa appeared in several of them. Then, strangely, they all seemed to stop at a certain age. Suddenly Trowa wasn't there anymore. Quatre frowned, and turned away, unable to look anymore.

His gaze fell on another photo, this one on the coffee table. It was a recent shot, taken of Catherine and a man around her age. Quatre picked it up and looked at it. The man looked familiar…

"Quatre!" Trente shouted as he half-ran, half-limped into the room. Quatre put the picture down immediately and threw his arms around the younger boy, pulling him close and holding him tight.

"By Allah, Trente, you had me scared half to death!" Quatre gasped out, tears clouding his vision. "I'm so glad you're okay."

"If it weren't for the Blooms, I wouldn't have made it," Trente said, pulling away from Quatre and yanking him down on the couch so that he could take the weight off his leg. "They got me out of the MS before it completely filled with water."

Quatre's eyes widened at Trente's blunt statement. "Trente, what have I told you about—"

"I had to tell them something, Quatre," Trente said, his look pleading. "They knew that it was a MS, they saw my uniform." Quatre noticed that Trente wasn't wearing said uniform, but didn't comment. "And I told them I'd tell them what was going on."

"Quatre, don't blame him," Catherine said as she came into the room. "And he didn't tell us much. Just what Neo-OZ was."

Quatre looked at Trente. "It was written on my uniform," Trente said defensively. "There's a picture of you and the other pilots on the wall – I doubt they work for Quietus!"

"Hold on, hold on, _hold on!" Quatre said, holding up his hands. "I didn't say anything! Trente, calm down, you didn't do anything wrong. And you were right to trust Catherine. We're old friends."_

Trente blinked. "Really? Then you must know her brother, too."

Quatre froze. "Brother?"

The door opened behind them, and Catherine looked up. "Well, it's about time!" she said. 

Quatre turned around to see the man from the picture, the one who had looked so familiar, staring at him. And now, in person, he began to look even more familiar.

"It can't be…" the man said hoarsely. He stared at Quatre for a minute, then looked at Catherine, then at Trente, then back to Quatre. A second later, he spun around and left the trailer.

"Triton!" Catherine called after him.

Quatre was shaking with shock. That voice… 

"Quatre, what's wrong?" Trente asked, looking at him worriedly.

Quatre didn't seem to hear him. He looked at Catherine and stood up. "Trente, stay here. Catherine?"

"In the tent," Catherine replied. 

Trente watched, confused, as Quatre followed Triton out of the tent without another word. ****


	27. Hello, Trowa

**Gundam MegaWing: After Colony 225**

**Chapter Twenty-Seven: Hello, Trowa**

Quatre ran through the darkness towards the towering shape of the circus tent, breathing hard and heart pounding. It had to be. It couldn't be a coincidence. And after seventeen years of wondering, Quatre was finally going to get the answers he deserved. 

The tent entrance was drawn slightly, indicating that someone had passed through. Praying that his instincts had been right, he slipped into the dimly lit interior and looked around at the cages of slumbering animals. Locating the lions, he crept forward quietly, peering through the darkness. 

He almost didn't see the figure leaning against the side of the cage, nearly obscured from his vision. He paused, and looked. Yes, it was him. He was slightly taller, more muscular, but still as lithe and lean as he'd been seventeen years earlier. His hair was different, no longer the familiar, one-of-a-kind unibang, but a simple ponytail. But it was him. 

"Hello, Trowa," Quatre said, stepping towards him. Trowa Barton stiffened and drew in a sharp breath, then slowly turned around to look at the smaller man. Emerald eyes met aquamarine, and the two lovers stared at each other for a few minutes, neither saying a word.

Then Quatre took a few steps forward and slapped Trowa across the face as hard as he could. 

Trowa stepped back and lifted his hand to his cheek, which had begun to turn red almost instantaneously. His one visible eye, the one not hidden by the eyepatch, widened in shock. "Quatre…"

"Shut up," Quatre hissed, his eyes narrowed, his blond bangs falling slightly into his eyes. "Don't you dare say a word. Not until I'm finished, Trowa Barton. Or Triton Bloom, or whoever you are now. I suppose changing your identity was the only way you could run, huh? You couldn't even keep the same name, live up to the responsibility. Do you have any idea what I've been through in the last seventeen years?!" 

Trowa stared at him silently. "No, Quatre," he said at last. "But I suppose you're going to tell me, right?"

The maddeningly calm tone of his voice made Quatre's temper flare. "How can you just stand there and pretend that everything's okay?" he demanded. "You walked out without a single word, Trowa. Just a little note next to my pillow saying that you were leaving and that you weren't coming back. 'Things aren't working out, Quatre. I'm sorry'. We had plans, Trowa! We fucking had plans, and you just threw them out the window without a single hint! Why? Why, Trowa?! We could always talk – always! What was so different about this time?! If it was something I did, then tell me now, because I haven't been able to figure it out at all."

"Oh, come on, Quatre," Trowa said, his eye narrowing. "I know all about you and Dorothy, so don't try and pin all of this on me."

Quatre blinked, anger suddenly replaced by confusion. "Me and…_Dorothy? What the hell are you talking about?" _

"Your sister told me everything, Quatre," Trowa replied. "She showed me the letters between you and Dorothy, the ones where you discussed your 'secret meetings'. She showed me Dorothy's pregnancy reports, and the paternity tests indicating you as the father. And you were being so secretive, so distant, how _was I suppose to talk to you? Well?"_

Quatre was barely listening at this point. _My sister? But…the only ones who knew about me and Trowa were Iria, Zoey, and… "Claire," Quatre said, his voice almost a growl. "I'm going to kill that bitch at the next family reunion."_

"Why?" Trowa asked. "You should be grateful to her. I bet you and Dorothy are very happy now. What about that boy, Trente? I suppose he's your son?" 

"As a matter of fact, yes," Quatre said suddenly. "Trente _is my son. But Dorothy isn't his mother. He doesn't have a mother." __Oh shit, what am I doing?_

Trowa stared at him. "What?" 

Quatre clenched his fists to keep from shaking with emotion. "Trowa, Dorothy _was pregnant. But the child she was a pregnant with wasn't even hers. It was an artificial implant, designed by Iria. It was one of the first test subjects. The concept was to make it possible to allow gay couples to be able to have biological children of their own. All that was required was DNA from both partners, as well as female chromosomes from relatives. Catherine and Iria were both willing to donate, and Dorothy offered to carry the child to term." Quatre looked Trowa straight in the eye. "I was going to tell you the day you left, in fact. Trente is __our son, Trowa Barton. Yours and mine. And he doesn't have a clue."_

Trowa sat down on the bench beside the cage, hard. "Impossible," he whispered. "Impossible. Claire said…"

"Claire lied," Quatre said, figuring it out as he spoke. Now that Trowa's explanation was out in the open, it was all making sense. "She couldn't bear the thought of the Winner heir having a male lover, but she tolerated it the best that she could. But when I made the decision to help Iria out with her experiment, she must've flipped. And I, like a stupid fool, told her the entire plan."

"So she made up all of that stuff about you and Dorothy," Trowa finished. "She made up the letters, she showed me the pregnancy tests indicating that Dorothy was carrying _your child – but altered them to leave me out of it." He frowned. "But no – that's not possible. Claire was never good at forgery, and I'd know your handwriting anywhere." _

"I _did write those letters," Quatre admitted, suddenly remembering. "But the secret meetings with Dorothy weren't anything romantic – in fact, Une was there, too! That was right around the time Quietus first showed up!" __That's right! And plans to build the Neo-Gundams began a few months later! _

"Quietus?" Trowa repeated. "What are you talking about, Quatre?"

But before Quatre could answer him, the entire tent lit up with light from outside. The roaring sound of helicopter blades could be heard rapidly approaching. 

Trente ran into the tent, his blonde hair flying. "Quatre!" he shouted. "It's Quietus! They've found us!" 


	28. They're After Me They're After You?

**Gundam MegaWing: After Colony 225**

**Chapter Twenty-Eight: They're After Me!…They're After You?**

"Get down!" shouted Quatre, throwing himself at Trowa and knocking the two of them to the ground. Trente threw himself down at the same time, covering his head with his arms as bullets tore through the fabric of the circus tent. Years of military training rushed back to the tall acrobat, and he grabbed Quatre and rolled the two of them under a bench that ran alongside the lion's cage. Out of the corner of his eye, Trowa saw Trente pressed himself into a corner and hunch up, making himself as small a target as possible. 

The shower of bullets continued, and Trowa squeezed his good eye shut and tried to block out the agonized roars and howls of the circus animals as the bullets slammed into their bodies. _No, he thought. __It's not fair. _

Then the bullets stopped, and everything was quiet. 

They could still hear the attack helicopters faintly as they turned full circle to land. Quatre, Trowa, and Trente eased out of their shelters and looked around.

Holes riddled the cloth, allowing moonlight through. The acrid stench of death and blood filled their senses, and Trente immediately tore off a piece of his shirt to cover his mouth before he got sick. He stared at the cages in shock and horror, starting suddenly when Quatre grabbed his arm. "Let's get out of here," he said tensely. "Before those agents find us."

Trowa stepped in front of them. "Where's Catherine?" he demanded, staring at Trente. 

"Running," Trente replied. "When I saw the helicopters, I sent her out. She'll be safe. Quietus was after me, and possibly Quatre." 

Trowa glanced at Quatre, but the smaller man refused to meet his eyes. Trente noticed this, and frowned. Usually Quatre was cordial to everyone. Just who was this man, anyway? "If you follow the edge of the woods, Mr. Bloom, you should be able to find her," he said. "Quatre?"

"Let's get out of here," Quatre muttered. "Good luck, Triton." Then he grabbed Trente's arm and hauled him out of the tent entrance. They both looked around, then took off at a sprint. Distantly, Trowa could hear the pounding feet of their attackers…Quietus, Quatre and Trente had called them. 

The lights of flashlights peeked through the bullet holes, reminding him that he probably didn't want to be there right now. He took a deep breath, then followed the other two out of the tent, heading for the trees. He wasn't a moment too soon, because just then sharp blades tore through the tent as Quietus' Cyborg soldiers slashed their way through. 

"There's nothing here," one of them muttered. "Our sources were wrong. The pilot wasn't here."

Another one growled deep in his throat, and retracted his blade back into his artificial arm. "Damn it. The boss isn't going to be happy until we get one of them. With the loss of Specimen 02, the Cyclones are useless. We need another to complete the plan."

His companion nodded. "There's always the colonies," he pointed out. "We'll continue our search there. The Gundam Pilots can't stay hidden forever." 

The two Cyborgs took one last look around, then headed back to their helicopters. 

Deep in the darkness of an old abandoned barn, the sounds of fingers hitting a keyboard could be heard as the typist hurried to complete his task before Quietus' alarms picked him up. He'd hacked into their system hundreds of times, but always had to log out before he could find what he wanted. Each time, he'd left the doors he'd unlocked open. And now, finally, he was nearing the information he sought.

Ever since he'd seen those two Mobile Suits, so similar to his own, he'd known that he'd need to get as much information on them as possible. He'd had no idea that there were other…Gundams? Was that what they were called? 

And then he was in. Ever piece of information Quietus had on the Neo-Gundams was scrolling down the screen in front of him. He considered taking time to download it, but at that moment the warning appeared on the screen that security was about to pick up his trail. Securing the path he'd created that day and adding it to his previous tracks, he logged out of the system and sank back in his seat. The screens in front of him were now blank, and once again he was completely surrounded by darkness and silence. He'd been lucky to find this barn to hide himself and Shinigami within it. 

Suddenly the screen in front of him flared up. **ARE YOU OKAY, NOIR? **

Noir managed a slight smile, his violet eyes lighting up as his Gundam's AI technology took over. I'M FINE_, he typed back, sighing softly. _

**HOW DID THE SEARCH PROCEED?**

I SHOULD HAVE THE NECESSARY INFORMATION TOMORROW, the teenager answered. AND THEN, ONCE I KNOW ALL I CAN ABOUT THE NEO-GUNDAMS, I'LL BE ABLE TO FINISH THE MODIFICATIONS ON YOU. THEN WE'LL REALLY GIVE QUIETUS SOMETHING TO WORRY ABOUT.

**YOU REALLY WANT TO SEE THEM DEAD, DON'T YOU?**

Noir frowned and sat up, his blue bangs falling into his eyes. He reached up and brushed his fingers along the ragged edges of his short hair. 

For years he had lived within the confines of Quietus' science laboratories, without a name, and without any clue that there was anything outside. They'd treated him with contempt, and wanted him only for what he could give them. They had created him, and had planned to use him for their own purposes. His stomach churned as he thought about the moment he had realized that he was just a pawn to them. 

The moment he'd seen the black and white photograph of a grinning teenager who looked exactly like him.

Right down to the long braid trailing down his back.

Well, now that braid was gone. Noir clenched his fist and struggled not to scream. If he even could scream. Thanks to Quietus, Noir had to live with something that the boy in the picture – the picture he kept taped to the underside of the control panel – never had to live with. Eternal silence. Noir had never known what it was like to hear. 

He'd been deaf since his "birth". 

Thanks to Quietus. 

They were going to pay for what they'd done to him. 

**NOIR?**

Noir smirked as he typed back his response. THEY DON'T CALL ME THE GOD OF DEATH FOR NOTHING. QUIETUS IS GOING DOWN.

It was only a matter of time before he got his revenge.


	29. Where in the World is Everyone!

**Gundam MegaWing: After Colony 225**

**Chapter Twenty-Nine: Where in the World Is Everyone? **

"_WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN 'NO ONE CAN FIND QUATRE?!" Neo-OZ Lieutenant-Commander Dorothy Catalonia shouted into the receiver of her cell phone. She took a couple of deep breaths and managed to lower her voice before she continued the conversation, but still maintained a grip on her pencil that threatened to snap it in half. "Did you check the circus that he was headed for?"_

"Cleared," Preventer Ice replied. "Sorry, Cousin. There's no sign of him."

Dorothy massaged her temples. "Mariemeia, I _thought there was an undercover escort on him."_

"He managed to ditch us," Ice, aka Mariemeia Barton Kushrenada said. "We're as stunned by this as you, Dorothy. Anne is trying to do everything she can, but unfortunately, both Quatre and Trente have the experience to disappear. Do you have any idea why he went to that circus? Anything that I can report to Anne would be helpful."

Sighing, Dorothy tapped her fingers against the top of her desk. "He got a call from Trente saying that Neo-03 had crashed in the Sea of Japan, and that he'd been picked up by a local circus troupe. That was all he told me before he hightailed it down to Earth. How are recovery operations of 03 going?"

"Surprisingly well," Mariemeia replied. "Our contacts in the Japanese government are keeping it all quiet. Word in the papers is that we're recovering pieces of one of the 'meteors' that reportedly entered the atmosphere. We should have all the pieces cleared out by the end of the week. Then it's just a matter of putting 03 back together."

"What about Neo-01? What can you tell me there?"

"Nothing," Mariemeia replied. 

"Mariemeia," Dorothy said warningly. 

"It's not our jurisdiction," Mariemeia said apologetically. "Ever since Ms. Relena married that asshole ambassador, the Preventers have had no hold over anything in the Sank Kingdom. If Ms. Relena were still completely in charge of her country, then maybe…_maybe we'd have more luck. Right now, we can only hope that the wrong people don't find it and its pilot, and that whoever does keeps quiet about it."_

_Or that Relena herself finds the MS, Dorothy said, but she didn't dare say it out loud. Nobody but herself and Quatre knew that Relena had been the main backer for the production of the Neo-Gundams, since the Winner Corporation couldn't afford to rouse any suspicions by financing it completely by themselves. Dorothy glanced at the clock. "I should probably let you go now," Dorothy said. "I have a few more calls to make, and you have a job to get back to. Call me if there's any change."_

"Of course," Mariemeia replied. She paused for a second. "Dorothy?"

"Hmm?"

"How is he?" 

Dorothy smiled. "He's doing fine, Mariemeia. Quatre and I are both keeping a close eye on him. Don't worry."

Mariemeia sighed in relief. "Thank you, Dorothy. Good-bye."

"Good-bye," Dorothy replied, hanging up the phone. She leaned forward against her desk and propped her head up in her hands.

_Quatre…what happened down there? _


	30. The God of Death No More

**Gundam MegaWing: After Colony 225**

**Chapter Thirty: The God of Death No More**

Odin Lowe stared at his spouse. "Kenji? Are you sure?"

Tobias calmly handed the phone to Odin, who immediately snatched it up. "Ke –" his throat tightened with emotion. "Kenji?"

"Dad?" 

Tears sprang to Odin's eyes, and he gripped the side of his wheelchair. "Thank God," he gasped. "Kenji, are you okay? Where are you? What happened? Where have you been?"

"Whoa, easy, Dad," Kenji said, laughing. "I'm fine. Really. But I can't tell you where I am."

"Kenji…," Odin said warningly.

"I know you'll just want to come and get me, but I can't have you involved," Kenji replied. "Really. I can't." 

Tobias held out his hand, and Odin automatically handed the phone to him. "Kenji, tell us where you are. Now."

"Nope, no can do, Pops," Kenji said, and Tobias could practically see the smart-ass grin on his face as he said it. "Look, I just called – hold on a second." In the background, Tobias could hear a muffled voice talking to Kenji, and Kenji's own muffled replies. He must've put his hand over the receiver. When the hand was finally taken away, it wasn't Kenji on the other end.

"Tobias? Or is it Odin?"

"Hilde!" Tobias exclaimed, his eyes widening. "Is Kenji with you?"

"No, I hacked into the phone line and it just happened to be this conversation," Hilde said dryly. "Duh, Tobias. Come on. _Yes, Kenji is with me. He's being a little stubborn and is determined not to tell you where he is – wonder where he gets __that from?" Tobias grinned and glanced over at his koi. Odin, not knowing what Hilde had just said, just raised an eyebrow at him. "But he does have a good reason not to tell you, and frankly, I'm not sure Odin needs another shock right now in his condition."_

Tobias nodded. "What are you proposing?" 

"There'll be a Sank Kingdom shuttle leaving your colony soon," Hilde replied. "I've bought you a ticket under Relena's name. I want you on that flight when it leaves, and then I want you to cut all contact with the orphanage. We're dealing with something big, Tobias, and Kenji is right in the middle of it." She went on to explain a few more details, which Tobias quickly memorized. "I'll see you in a few hours, Tobias," she said. "Good luck."

_A strange way to say good-bye in a time of peace, Tobias thought as he hung up the phone. He turned to look at Odin, and immediately knew that there was no way he could fabricate a story to him. "I'm going to Kenji, apparently," Tobias replied. "The shuttle leaves in an hour, and I should arrive at my destination shortly after."_

"I don't like it," Odin said, shaking his head. "Where are you going?"

"Can't say," Tobias replied. He stood up and leaned down to kiss Odin softly. "I don't think I'm going to be able to contact you once I leave the colony, so please don't worry about me. As soon as I can, I'll call, okay?"

Odin reached out and grabbed Tobias' ponytail. "Wait…" he said. Tobias looked at him. "Why?" 

Tobias shrugged. "I don't know. Hilde's being hush-hush about this. And Kenji's involved." He smiled ruefully. "That boy always did know how to get into trouble, didn't he?"

"Yes," Odin said, nodding. "Be careful."

Tobias squeezed his hand gently. "I will."

It only took him a few minutes to pack the necessary items that Hilde had dictated to him, and soon he was on his way to the shuttle. Hilde had given him specific instructions that he was _not to drive to the shuttleport, but rather walk. He would pick up his ticket upon arriving there, and then proceed to board the shuttle. _

Once he landed in the Sank Kingdom, there would be an unmarked car waiting outside the spaceport. The only clue that it was the right car would be that he would recognize the driver as an old friend. Who the old friend was, Hilde hadn't said, but Tobias would have to act as if he didn't know who it was when he saw him or her. From there, the driver would take him to their final destination. 

It was a simple matter of boarding the shuttle, and soon he was on his way. As the colony got smaller and smaller behind him. Tobias wished that he could call Odin to let him know that he got off okay. But he was restricted. And if there was one thing Tobias knew how to do well, it was following orders. 

"Mr. Lowe?" the flight attendant asked, coming over to him. "There's a phone call for you." He held out a small flight phone.

"Hello?" Tobias asked, picking it up.

"You made it," Hilde said with obvious relief. "Good. Listen, I forgot to tell you one important thing. Your shuttle is going to dock briefly at the Winner Colony to refuel. Don't leave the shuttle. That's very important, Tobias."

"The Winner Colony?" Tobias repeated. 

"Yes. Don't leave the shuttle. There are forces at work that right now, I and Kenji and Relena don't want you getting involved in unless absolutely necessary. Got it?"

Tobias sighed. "Yes, ma'am."

"Good boy," Hilde laughed. "I'll see you soon."

After Tobias handed the phone back to the flight attendant, he leaned back in his seat and frowned. _Why doesn't Hilde want me to go to the Winner Colony? he wondered. __To add to that, why would she think I'd want to? I haven't been there in over seventeen years. Although I bet I'd give him a heart attack if I were to suddenly show up after all this time. He tugged on his ponytail and massaged his temples. All this subterfuge was giving him a headache. _

The shuttle finally docked at the Sank Kingdom five hours later. There had been a slight delay at the Winner Colony for some odd reason, but it had been cleared up after about an hour's wait. Now Tobias hefted his carry-on (his only piece of luggage) over his shoulder, and hurried outside to look for the unmarked car. 

He saw several cars that might be what he was looking for, but he didn't recognize any of the drivers. _What did Hilde mean by an old friend? he thought. _

"Mr. Tobias Lowe?" 

Tobias looked up to see a tall Arabian man standing next to a car. "Yes, I'm Tobias," he said, immediately heading towards the man. "Are you here from the hotel?" he asked, saying the first part of the passcode. Even though he immediately knew who this man had to be. 

"Yes, I'm from the Desert Sands," the man said, opening the door and allowing Tobias to slide into the passenger seat. The man then hurried around to the other side. "My name is Rasheed, and I'll be your driver during your visit here." He immediately closed the door and started the car.

"Are we being monitored?" Tobias asked.

"No, Duo Maxwell, we're not," Rasheed said, grinning. "I had no idea Hilde wanted me to pick you up until I saw you walk out of the spaceport. Even without the braid, the ponytail still makes you recognizable." 

"Hopefully only to those who know me," Duo said, smirking. "It's been a long time, Rasheed. Can you tell me what's going on?"

"I think Kenji and Hilde should fill you in," Rasheed replied. "So how have the last years been treating you?"

"Well enough," Duo said. "I'm married, I have a son, and I run an orphanage. What about you? How's the Maguanac Corps? And Quatre?"

"The Maguanacs are fine," Rasheed replied. "I took a special assignment with Minister Dorilan a few years ago, right around the same time Hilde did."

"Dorilan? She kept her maiden name?"

"She did after she was divorced," Rasheed replied. "Unfortunately, her ex-husband still has much control over the Sank Kingdom, especially considering that he has full custody over their daughter." The older man frowned. "Ms. Relena was not too happy about that, but the courts decided that he was better equipped to handle the girl, since he didn't travel as much as Relena did."

"You didn't answer my other question, Rasheed," Duo said. "How's Quatre?"

"To answer that, you'd have to ask Quatre himself," Rasheed said. "I haven't seen him since Trowa left."

Duo blinked. "Trowa? Left Quatre? You're kidding."

"I am not," Rasheed replied. "At the same time, Quatre got heavily involved in some sort of top-secret project that he refused to let me in on. He said it was for my own good. I left the Winner Colony shortly after and returned to Arabia, and then eventually wound up here. And now I know what it was that Quatre was working so secretively on."

"Would you mind filling me in?" Duo asked. "I think it involves my son."

"It does," Rasheed replied. "But again, I think it would be best for your son to tell you about it." 

Duo noticed that the car had begun to slow down. They were outside a large hanger. "We're here."

"Where is here?" Duo asked.

"The end of everything we've worked for, most likely," Rasheed replied.


	31. Secret Meeting

**Gundam MegaWing: After Colony 225**

**Chapter Thirty-One: Secret Meeting**

Kenji paced around in front of his Mobile Suit. The Preventers had managed to get a hold of it while Quietus was busy chasing him and Hilde around the forest. Fortunately, they'd had the added cover of trees and ditches, and the helicopter had been unable to get below the canopy of leaves and branches. If they'd been in an open field, it would've been over. 

Quietus had chased them to the edge of the Sanq Kingdom, then pulled off, apparently deciding that shooting up one of the most influential kingdoms on Earth would not be very productive at that moment. Neo-OZ didn't know most of Quietus' objectives, but they did know this – Quietus loved secrets. It also loved trying to find out other peoples' secrets. 

After phoning his parents, Kenji had wanted to contact Neo-OZ. This idea was quickly shot down by Relena, Hilde, and Lady Une. None of them wanted to take the chance of Quietus homing in on the frequency and attacking. 

Yes, Relena and Hilde now knew about the Quietus threat – or at least the extent that Kenji had been able to tell them. Lady Une knew more, of course, but she refused to say anything until Kenji's father arrived with Rasheed Al-Sha'ar. Kenji still wasn't certain how he felt about that. He'd been on his own for almost a year now, and yeah, sure, he missed his parents, but he was used to taking care of himself now. However, Tobias Lowe _was one of the original Gundam pilots…_

That made at least three definitely accounted for.

Heero Yuy, now Odin Lowe Jr. 

Duo Maxwell, now Tobias Lowe.

Quatre Raberba Winner, still himself, but with the alter-ego of Commander Winner. 

And that left Trowa Barton and Chang Wufei, Pilots 03 and 05, still unaccounted for.

For some strange reason, that made Kenji uneasy. Like there was something he should know, but he was missing the necessary information.

In other news, though, Une had managed to bring good word about Trente. The Preventers had recovered the wreck of Heatseeker off the coast of Japan. The MS was in bad shape and would need massive repairs, but there was no pilot in the cockpit. Une had made contact with Neo-OZ before coming to the Sanq Kingdom, and had been told by Dorothy that Quatre had received word from Trente and had gone to pick him up. 

Kenji hoped that they were safe.

Lady Une looked up from where she was casually leaning against MegaWing's leg. "Did you just hear a car?"

The sound of doors slamming came from outside, and they could hear voices. Hilde sprinted to the door to the hanger and opened it, peering through. "Hey!" Kenji heard her call. "How'd the flight go?"

The unmistakable sound of Tobias Lowe's laugh could be heard. "It was fine, Hilde. Where's Kenji?"

"In here," Kenji called. "But I'm warning you, Pops – I'm not going to be the first thing you'll notice."

"What do you – holy shit." 

Tobias stood still, framed in the doorway by the afternoon sun as he stared up at the huge MS that looked so much like Wing Zero, and yet obviously wasn't. 

"Pops? Meet MegaWing." 


	32. What the Hell is Going on Here?

**Gundam MegaWing: After Colony 225**

**Chapter Thirty-Two: What the Hell is Going On Here? **

"Holy shit." 

It was all Tobias Lowe/Duo Maxwell could think to say. The forty-five year-old was struck speechless for quite possibly the first time in his life as he stared up at the huge Mobile Suit that could only be described as a Gundam. 

He stepped into the hanger, never taking his eyes of the huge titan, moving almost as if he were in a dream. But he knew, _knew, that this couldn't be a dream. Because he would never, __never, dream something as crazy as this. _

"Pops?"

The familiar voice snapped Tobias out of his shock, and he turned to look at his only son for the first time. "Kenji?" 

Kenji nodded, folding his arms across his chest and giving his father his familiar 'I'm almost sixteen, don't even _think about hugging me' glare. It had been over a year since the two Lowes had last seen each other, and again Tobias was nearly struck speechless. Kenji looked so much like Odin, it was unbelievable. But the expressions…the cocky grin, the wide eyes, the way he carried himself…it was all Tobias. Kenji may have been away from his family, but he had still grown up to be like his parents. _

Tobias didn't hug Kenji. The Lowes never were a hugging family, really. But it was obvious to everyone in the room that father and son were glad to be reunited, even if neither showed their affection towards it. 

Tobias looked at his son. 

"Kenji?"

"Pops?"

"What the hell is going on here?" 

Kenji smirked. "Have a seat, and I'll clear everything up."

Relena came over and placed a hand on Tobias' shoulder. "We don't know anything, either, Duo. He wanted to wait until you were here." 

Tobias nodded. "Okay, then. But it better be a damn good reason."

Kenji leaned against MegaWing's leg, which was, of course, much larger than him. Lady Une stood beside him. Everyone else either sat on the floor, on crates, or stood around him. "A few months ago, I arrived on the colony affectionately known throughout the Earth Sphere as the Winner Colony. As you know, the Winner Colony was built by Winner Enterprises approximately twenty years ago."

"Right," Une said, nodding. She picked up from there. "What Kenji didn't know when he arrived there was that during the initial construction of the Winner Colony, Quatre Raberba Winner changed the design plans to include a massive, below-surface structure. An undercity, one could call it." 

"You're kidding," Hilde said, surprised. "You mean people live _below the surface of the colony? It's not just technical stuff?"_

"Oh, it's technical, all right," Kenji said. "When I got there, I did some exploring. That's how I discovered that beneath the very surface of the Winner Colony, with the main entrance being within Winner Enterprises Headquarters itself, is a massive underground military force known as Neo-OZ." He pointed to the emblem on his jacket for emphasis.

"Neo-OZ?!" Everyone exclaimed. 

Kenji looked at Une. "Maybe you should take it from here," he suggested.

Une nodded. "I'm sure you all know that almost fourteen years ago, Zechs Marquise and his wife Lucretzia Noin-Marquise were killed on the Mars Colony."

Relena nodded, biting her lip as she always did when she thought about her brother's death. "Yes."

"Zechs knew that there was trouble on Mars," Une said, her quiet voice commanding absolute attention from her audience. "He contacted both myself and Quatre Winner, the only Gundam pilot who's true location was known. Neither of us knew that Trowa Barton was living with Quatre at the time, but that's beside the point. What matters is that Quatre and I began to meet secretly, during Quatre's 'business' trips. We would confer with Zechs via hologram, although the three of us were never all together in person. 

"What Zechs told us was shocking. People were disappearing from the Terra Forming Project on Mars at an alarming rate. Because Mars was so far off, no one could really confirm the Missing reports, and Zechs was afraid to go to the national government with what he knew. His suspicion had been aroused when he discovered that a certain group of individuals were growing in power on Mars, and that each of those who disappeared had connections to these individuals. Zechs and Noin were convinced that they were connected somehow. However, before Zechs could find anything conclusive…or so we thought…he and Noin turned up dead." 

"They were murdered?!" Hilde gasped. "I thought it was a shuttle accident!"

"It was made to look that way," replied Une. "Quatre and I assumed that they had been murdered, and that was only confirmed when a letter arrived from Zechs a month later. It had been mailed the day he died. In this letter, he wrote a detailed account of Quietus, the inner circle of those who were pushing their way into power, and what he believed their plan to be."

"And that was…?" Rasheed asked. 

"The ultimate destruction of Earth, and any space humans who would not conform to Quietus' ways," Une replied. "Everyone who joined Quietus was specially enhanced with their new Cyborg technology, and we now refer to them as Cyborg soldiers. There are different degrees, of course. 

"Quatre and I knew that we couldn't go public with this letter. There was nothing to prove that Zechs really wrote it, and besides, he gave no names. But it was enough to make us cautious. I had Preventer intelligence check out the recent transactions made to Mars, and discovered that they were transporting metal alloy and shielding. Enough material to make a thousand Mobile Suits."

Everyone looked at her, stunned. "But…that's illegal!" Relena hissed, furious. 

"Yes," Une agreed. "That was when Quatre and I made the mutual decision that something needed to be done. Quatre devised the plan for Neo-OZ, of which he would command. We both agreed that Mobile Suits were needed, and it was his idea, and well as a couple of his sisters', to combine Neo-Titanium and Gundanium alloy to create the Neo-Gundams. This is Neo-Gundam 02, MegaWing.

"I suggested making many of these, but Quatre immediately vetoed this idea. It would cost money, he explained, and besides, he didn't want anymore lives lost than necessary. Most of Neo-OZ are spies and scientists. The only true soldiers are the pilots of the Neo-Gundams."

"How many?" Tobias demanded.

"At least four," Relena said. "That's how many I funded. Of course, I didn't know exactly what was going on then."

"Actually, there are eight," Une replied. "Neo-Sandrock, MegaWing, Heatseeker, Sparticus, Chronosphere, Lotus, Atlantica, and Shinigami. Heatseeker is heavily damaged and out of commission, Chronosphere and her pilot are undercover, and Shinigami was stolen when it was a prototype, but the pilots of Lotus and Sparticus reported seeing it in battle just outside the Earth jurisdiction, not far from Mars Space."

"What?!" Kenji looked at her, surprised. "Why wasn't I told any of this?!" 

"You just were," answered Une. "Quatre also knew that the Neo-Gundams were going to have to be piloted by the best of the best. He chose to pilot Neo-Sandrock himself, since he had experience. But he had no idea what had become of his fellow pilots, not even Barton, and he also knew that retraining a grown adult would take too long."

"He didn't," groaned Tobias.

"His first recruit was his own son, Trente Nanashi," Une said. This brought another choking sound from Kenji, but Une silenced him with a glare. "Trente trained, much like Heero Yuy, throughout most of his life, although never to Yuy's extent. When the Neo-Gundams were finished, he chose to pilot Heatseeker, the 03 model type. 

"At the same time, Neo-Gundam 05, Chronosphere, was given to a young woman known only as Preventer Arctic Wind. That's all I can tell you about her. She's undercover within Quietus as we speak, and we can't afford to give out too much information on her." Relena nodded in agreement, her expression grim. Tobias made up his mind to question her later. 

"About a year or so ago," Une continued, "Quatre encountered a boy who had recently been placed on the Winner Colony through the Witness Protection Agency. His name now is Isaac O'Riley – again, I can't disclose his true identity. He was tried in Neo-Gundam 02, but was instead assigned to 04, Sparticus, the only defense-type Neo-Gundam."

"Then came me," Kenji said, taking over. "After arriving on the Winner Colony and discovering Neo-OZ, I found out that Quietus was going to make their move very soon, according to intelligence. Only two of the Neo-Gundams – not including 05, which was technically leased to the Preventers – at Neo-OZ were piloted. I decided to offer my skills, and masqueraded as an agent from the Preventers. That cover was blown shortly after, but I didn't know that until about an hour ago." He frowned at Une, who frowned back. "Quatre was, needless to say, eager to try me out. I mastered MegaWing, and became part of the team."

"It was his mastering of MegaWing that disturbed us," Une said. "You see, MegaWing is the only Neo-Gundam to be completely outfitted with the Zero System." 

"_The Zero System?!"_


	33. Danger

**Gundam MegaWIng: After Colony 225**

**Chapter Thirty-Three: Danger**

It was dark. The only visible light came from the searchlights from Quietus helicopters. The only good thing was that they couldn't penetrate the thick trees that spread out below them. 

That didn't mean Trente and Quatre were relaxing, though.

The elder Winner peered out from the dipping branches of the weeping willow he and Trente were crouched behind. A searchlight washed over the area, and he ducked back inside. "We'll never be able to get out of here," he growled. Quatre looked at Trente. "Are you okay?"

Trente was holding a piece of his shirt against a bullet wound in his shoulder. He removed the cloth and winced as the fabric clung to the congealing blood. "I'll be fine," he said. "How about you?"

"I'm okay," Quatre lied.

The truth was, his leg hurt like hell. Something had caught him, and had somehow worked its way under the skin. Every time he moved he felt like his leg was on fire. But he couldn't tell that to Trente. His son was depending on him.

His son. For a long time, Quatre had absolutely refused to even think of Trente Nanashi that way. But it was true – biologically, at least. Trente could never find out. He'd hate Quatre for the rest of his life if he did. All Trente had ever wanted was to find his parents, and Quatre had always shot that down. If Trente found out that Quatre was his father…that he didn't have a mother…

Quatre didn't know if he could handle the rejection he was sure to face. 

"Are you sure?" Trente asked, looking at his commander knowingly. "You were limping awhile back."

"I said I'm fine," Quatre replied. "I just twisted something back there, that's all. It's going to be tricky getting out of here."

"We'd have more luck if we knew the woods better, or if we had help. Locals who could hide us. Quietus wouldn't attack the locals." Trente frowned. "There's a town not far from here. If we could make there…"

Quatre couldn't take it anymore. "I don't know if I could make it that far," he groaned. He leaned back against the tree truck and pulled up the leg of his pants.

Trente paled. Quatre's leg looked like someone had cut it up with a very small, very fine blade. Tentatively he touched the wounds. "Shrapnel," he muttered. "Fiberglass, maybe. The same things they hit the animals and shredded the tent with." He looked at Quatre. "Why didn't you say something?"

"I had to make sure we were safe, first," replied Quatre. 

"Bullshit," Trente growled. "Quatre, don't play the martyr. You're the only family I have." He pulled off his jacket and wrapped it around the bleeding leg, then pulled it tight, creating a semi-tourniquet. "I'm going to go get help. You stay here. Don't move. If anything comes near you, don't even breathe. I'm smaller and faster than you – I'll be able to dodge the searchlights."

Quatre winced. "What about the sensors?" 

Trente grinned and tapped the side of his neck. "The transplant's in place. We'll just have to see if the that experimental prototype sensor shield really will hold up in humans. Dr. Griffen'll be happy if it does." 

"I don't want you getting hurt."

"I won't," Trente replied, deadly serious. "I haven't been training my whole life for nothing, Quatre. I can handle it. Trust me." He glanced over shoulder as another helicopter made a pass. "I'll be back."

There was a rustle in the willow's branches, and Trente was gone.

Quatre shifted his position, and grimaced. _Protect him, Allah. Keep him safe._


	34. Breaking the Code

**Gundam MegaWing: After Colony 225**

**Chapter Thirty-Four: Breaking the Code**

"Coffee?"

"Thank you." Isaac gratefully took to proffered beverage from Meila and took a sip from it. The hot liquid was just what he needed to give him a boost. "These files are double and triple encoded. I don't know how the Preventers can bypass all this security."

"They have clearance and we don't," replied Sandra from her position by the wall. She was standing where she could see down the hallway, keeping an eye out for anyone who could cause trouble. If their superiors found out that they were sneaking around, they'd be in huge trouble. 

"Why are you in L5?" Meila asked, confused. 

"Because I can't get into L1, and the Preventers have already checked 2, 3, and 4," replied Isaac.

"Well, Kenji's not Chinese, so don't bother with 5," Meila said. "There are so few people of other nationality there that it would've shown if he were from 5. Focus on 1."

"I told you I can't get in there," Isaac said irritably. 

"Oh, come on," Meila said, smiling at him coyly. "You've managed to bypass security on four the five colony clusters already – I'm sure you'd have no trouble cracking L1."

Isaac frowned. "I wouldn't be so sure about that. The other security systems may be triple encoded, but someone's triple _sealed L1. Just let me call up the profile…whoa."_

Sandra's eyes widened. "That is some nice work," she said softly. "Whoever did that must be a professional."

"Yeah," Isaac agreed. "And I know for a fact no one on L1's government body has that kind of ability. Someone on the colony doesn't want to be found. Strange, though. The Preventers don't even seem to be looking into this."

He began to work, trying to find some sort of crack in the hacker's codes that he could slip through. As he continued, his expression grew more and more concerned. 'What is it?" Meila asked.

"I've seen this signature somewhere," he replied. He tapped on the table, then snapped his fingers. "It was when I tried hacking into Winner Enterprises when I first got here. That was how I found out about Neo-OZ. This guy designed the security for WE, I'll bet you. Which means I know where his signature is."

"Signature?" echoed the girls.

"Every hacker leaves one," Isaac replied, "even if they're not hacking. I stumbled onto his while cracking WE security." He typed a few more keys, then grinned as a small section of the program was highlighted. "There he is. VOFUMTKG." 

"VOFUMTKG?" Meila frowned. "That makes absolutely no sense. It must be in a code."

"Or he could've just typed in random numbers," Sandra pointed out.

Isaac shook his head. "This guy is good. Average hackers, with their signatures, will create extremely confusing codes to hide their names. The better the hacker, the less they'll do so."

"Why?" Sandra asked.

"Because if they're that good, they won't worry about getting caught," answered Isaac. "This guy put this thing in here a long time ago – see this date? That's about eleven years ago…so this guy's only been here for eleven years. He might not even remember setting up this security program. My guess is, it's worked this well until now, so he hasn't needed to update it. There're no other dates." 

"And how does that help us ID him?" Meila asked. 

"And why would it matter if we did?" Sandra added. "Just break the code and get the files."

Isaac frowned. "Something tells me this is important. If this guy is as good as this program indicates, then his handle must be pretty easy to crack. And if it's the same handle as the one on WE security – which it is – he created it awhile ago. So he probably didn't give it much thought when he came up with it." He stared at the keyboard, frowning. "There's a clue in here somewhere." 

"Maybe they stand for numbers," offered Meila. "Each letter represents a number in the alphabet. V equals 22, O equals 15, F equals 6…but that's too complicated. What would numbers tell you?" 

"An ID code of some sort?" Sandra suggested.

"Nah," Isaac said. "Too complicated. There would be too many numbers for most ID systems." He sighed and tapped his fingers on the keys lightly. 

Meila looked down. Isaac's index finger was resting on the 23rd key, V. 

He typed the name again, idly, while he thought. 

V. And then the 9th key, O. 

V. O. Then 14th key, F. 

Meila grabbed his wrist. "Oh my God," she whispered. "I figured it out!" 

"What?" Isaac and Sandra looked at her. 

Meila picked up a pen and started to mark the letter keys on the keyboard. Q = 1. W = 2. E = 3. And so on. "Look at this. The letters on a keyboard are out of order according to the alphabet. It's the oldest code in history. To replace a letter in the alphabet, choose the letter on the keyboard that has the matching number. So, if we do that…" She grabbed a piece of paper and wrote out the alphabet in order, then gave each letter a number. A = 1. B = 2. C = 3, etc, etc. "Now match them up."

Sandra took her one piece of paper. "V-O-F-U-M-T-K-G. So on the keyboard, V = 23." 

"In the alphabet, it's W." 

"O = 9."

"I."

"F = 14."

"N." 

"U = 7."

"G."

"M = 26."

"Z."

"T = 5."

"E."

"K = 18."

"R."

"And G = 15."

"O."

"W-I-N-G-Z-E-R-O," read Sandra as she looked at the finished product. 

Meila looked at her. "What did you say?"

Sandra stared at the letters, uncomprehending. Meila snatched the paper out of her hand. 

"What?" Isaac asked. 

Meila quickly rewrote Sandra's block letters into something easier to make sense of. She showed the paper to them.

Wing Zero. 

"No way," Isaac whispered. He stared at the computer program. "No fucking way." 

Meila nodded. "Oh, definitely. We just found Heero Yuy."


	35. More Mysteries, More Explanations

**Gundam MegaWing: After Colony 225**

**Chapter Thirty-Five: More Mysteries, More Explanations**

"Sally, come here."

Sally looked up from her computer screen to where Preventer Dragon was staring at his own. "What is it?" she asked. "Did you find a DNA match?"

"No," Dragon said, his voice sounding strange. Perplexed and uncertain. "But look at this."

She stood up and walked over to him.

"Someone is hacking into the L1 files," he said. "Remember how we couldn't get into them?"

"Yeah," Sally said, nodding. "We were going to wait until we finished L5, and then request written documentation from L1. So?"

"So, whoever this hacker is, they've caught onto our search line and have been dogging us through all of our scans. I've been keeping an eye on them, waiting for them to slip up, but they never have. But now they've branched off on their own, and they're digging through L1 security. Thanks to them, I know why we couldn't get into L1."

"Why?" 

"Someone added extra security to the DNA files on L1," replied Dragon. "And this hacker is obviously interested in that." 

"Can you find out who it is?" Sally asked. "We should probably tell Une."

"Give me a minute." Dragon hunched over the keyboard and typed quickly, sending out several programs at once. "I've linked a worm to their signature," he replied. "It should follow them back whenever they log out, and then report back to us when it has an ID on the terminal." 

"How long?"

"Not much," Dragon replied. "They just got out. They must've found what they were looking for. We should have an ID within half an hour." 

"Yes, the Zero System," Une said after everyone had finished freaking out. The only person who had remained calm over this piece of news was Kenji – after all, he was the one who actually piloted the Neo-Gundam. 

"Let me get this straight," hissed Tobias. "You put my _son in a machine that contained that __death trap?!"_

"Well, we didn't know he was your son at the time, Duo," Une said matter-of-factly. "The fact that Kenji was able to master the Zero System after only one try surprised us all, but I'm beginning to see why he was able to. Being the son of a Gundam pilot must help." Tobias muttered something under his breath, and Hilde kicked him sharply in the ankle. Une arched an eyebrow, but said nothing. 

"Lady Une?" Kenji asked. 

"Right. Shortly after Kenji arrived, the first sortie between the Neo-Gundams and Quietus occurred. About one hundred Cyclone Mobile Suits – Quietus' top line – were dispatched near the L4 cluster. Neo-Sandrock, MegaWing, Heatseeker, and Sparticus were immediately sent out to deal with them. The results of the attack were heavily in Neo-OZ's favor, considering none of the Cyclones escaped destruction.

"That alerted both Neo-OZ and the Preventers to trouble. We had determined from Zechs' data that the Cyclones would be much more lethal than they ended up being. We're still not sure why our calculations were so far off, but we're working on that as fast as we can." Une sighed. "But that's the least of our troubles. Kenji?"

"Right," Kenji said, nodding. "After the fight, Trente – the pilot of Neo-03 – reported that he had sustained heavy damage and got permission from Quatre to go to the nearest resource satellite for repairs. I went with him to make sure that he got there okay. While there, we discovered that _something strange was going on when someone planted  a bomb inside of the satellite. Thanks to Quatre's sister Zoey, who ran the satellite, Trente and I were able to escape, but everyone else lost their lives. _

"When we entered the atmosphere of Earth, we realized that Heatseeker had been damaged even more by the shockwave of the explosion, and the atmospheric shields weren't working correctly. Heatseeker hit MegaWing, causing both of us to lose control and crash. When I came to, I discovered that I had crashed just outside of the Sank Kingdom. Thankfully, Hilde found me quickly, and we were able to make it here in one piece." He left out the part about Quietus chasing them down – Hilde had probably already told them about that. 

"Heatseeker crashed off the coast of Kyoto, and is now in Preventer custody," Une added. "Pilot Nanashi should be with Neo-OZ right now." 

"And that brings us up to speed," Kenji said.

"Not quite," Une interjected. "While Kenji and Trente were having their adventure, Neo-OZ received the two pilots for the last two Neo-Gundams, Lotus and Atlantica. Meila Fuang and Sandra Martinez had barely been at the base before Neo-OZ got a report that the Preventer Colony Base was under heavy fire. Those two, plus Sparticus, were dispatched, but arrived at the base too late to save it. Neo-04 and Neo-06 chased after the Cyclones, while Neo-07 returned to Neo-OZ Headquarters. Sparticus and Lotus were almost destroyed by the Cyclones, but were rescued by none other than the thought to be missing Neo-08, Shinigami. The Shinigami vanished after the battle, and 04 and 06 returned to base without incident. And _that should bring us up to speed." _

Their audience stared at them. "Is Quatre insane?" Tobias demanded, his voice low and dangerous. 

"Quatre has grown up," replied Une. 

Just then her phone rang. Une immediately answered it. "Lady Une here. Oh, hello, Mariemeia." She listened for a minute. "What? Are you sure? Okay. Yes, thank you. Tell Dorothy we'll get right on it. Yes. I'll see you when I get back. No, I don't know when that'll be. Une out." She hung up, and then turned to Kenji.

"It seems something went wrong when Quatre went to pick up Trente," she said. "The circus they were at was attacked by – well, the official word is that it was a small group of terrorists. Dorothy, on the other hand, it positive it was Quietus. And after the way you were tracked down and attacked, I have to believe her." Kenji glanced nervously at his father, who had paled when Une had mentioned him being attacked. "There's no sign of either Quatre or Trente."

"They're missing?" Kenji felt his throat go dry as he spoke the words. 

"Let's hope that's all they are."


	36. Urgent Mission

**Gundam MegaWing: After Colony 225**

**Chapter Thirty-Six: Urgent Mission**

"Dorothy!" Isaac ran into Dorothy's office without pausing the knock. The Lieutenant-Commander was seated behind the desk, the phone pressed against her ear. "You won't believe what we found!" Meila and Sandra ran in behind him, just barely managing to stop before they ran into him. 

Dorothy held up her hand, and then returned to her conversation. "Okay. I just wanted to let you know what was going on. If you can help in any way, it would be greatly appreciated. I'll keep you posted." She hung up the phone and turned to look at the three teenagers. "Do you know how to knock?"

"Momentary brain lapse," Isaac replied swiftly. "You'll never guess what the three of us discovered!" 

"Actually, what Isaac discovered," Sandra said, giving credit where credit was due.

"If it doesn't have to do with Quatre and Trente, I don't want to hear it right now," Dorothy replied. "The circus where Trente was being kept at was attacked shortly after Quatre arrived there to pick him up. There are no signs of either of them. I'm dispatching a team to go in under the guise of Preventers to see what they can come up with. I want two of you on the team, and the other to stay here as back-up."

"Quatre and Trente are missing?" Isaac looked at her, shocked. "Which of us are going?"

"Meila and Sandra," Dorothy replied. Isaac started to protest, but Dorothy continued. "We'll be met by a small group of Preventers headed by Preventer Ice, otherwise known as Mariemeia Kushrenada." Isaac snapped his mouth shut and nodded. "They'll provide us with back-up, but this is a Neo-OZ mission. Lady Une understands that."

"Will you be going, Dorothy?" Meila asked.

"Yes," Dorothy said. She turned to Isaac. "While I'm gone, I want you to find out what you can about this circus Trente was at. It was miles from where the Neo-Gundam went down – someone had to have tipped of Quietus. I want to know who. I don't know the name of the circus, but they were in Kyoto."

"Yes, ma'am," Isaac said. "Understood."

"Good." She looked back to Meila and Sandra. "The new flightsuits are ready and waiting in your lockers. I want them worn under the Preventer uniforms. Atlantica and Lotus have had the stealth cloaks added to them, and we're going to take them instead of the transport. Not many of us are going, and we can't have the flight register on the colony flight plans. Go suit up. We leave in thirty minutes." 

When the three left and Dorothy got ready to get changed into the Preventer uniform she'd be wearing, she couldn't help but wonder what it was that Isaac had wanted to talk to her about when the three of them had first walked in. 

_Oh, well, she thought. __If it's important, he'll remember to tell me when we get back._

It was almost an hour before Trente managed to make it out of the woods. A squat building was in front of him, lit up brightly. He noticed a man standing outside, and immediately recognized him as the manager of the circus. The manager looked around, and Trente ducked behind a tree. For once, he was too slow.

"Trente Nanashi?" the manager called. Shit. Catherine and Triton must have told him his name. "Is that you?"

Trente sighed and stepped out from behind the tree. "Yes," he said, nodding. His brownish-blond hair was plastered to his head with sweat, and his clothes were tattered and torn, but he looked enough like himself that the manager could see clearly that it really was him. "Is this where the circus came?"

"Yes," the manager said. He hurried over to the pilot and took him by his arm. "Come in, come in. You look like you've been through hell."

"Kind of," Trente admitted. "Listen, is there a doctor with you? The man who came to pick me up is back in the woods, injured. I had to leave him there to come get help. I'm pretty worried about him. He was shot."

The manager paled, but nodded. "Of course. I'll go get him now." They were inside the building now, and Trente could see that it was a meeting hall of some sort. Of course, now it looked like a circus convention. "Sit here and drink this." The manager handed him a glass of water, and then hurried off. 

Trente had barely been sitting for five minutes when a pair of arms were thrown around him. "Trente!" Catherine exclaimed, hugging the boy tightly. "I thought that was you! What happened to you?!" 

Trente barely managed to not gag on his water, and set the cup down before turning to the woman. "Long story," he said, managing a weak smile. "Hi, Mr. Bloom."

"Cut it out with the Mr. and Ms. junk," Catherine said. "It's Triton and Catherine." She ruffled his hair, causing it to stick up in strange spikes. Triton rolled his good eye and smoothed down Trente's hair. 

Then Catherine suddenly frowned. "Where's Quatre?" she whispered, kneeling down in front of Trente.

Trente motioned slightly to the woods outside the door. "He's still out there. He was shot. I had to leave him to get help. Your manager went to get a doctor."

"Doc won't go into those woods," Catherine said grimly. "Not so long as those helicopters are still out there. Trente, are they…Quietus?" She had dropped her voice even lower, and Trente needed to strain to hear her. 

He nodded. 

"If the doctor can't go to him, I'll have to go get him myself," Trente said, standing up. "Now that I know my way here, it should take me no time. I have a very good memory, and I know how to dodge Quietus' sensors."

"You can't go by yourself!" Catherine said, shocked. "It'll take you twice as long to get back with Quatre, and if he was shot then he's got to be in bad shape. Triton, you go with him."

Triton stared at Catherine, and she gave him a glare of her own. Trente sensed there was something more behind those looks, and remembered how coldly Quatre had treated the other man. Was there some sort of history there? But he had to admit that Triton Bloom would probably be handy in a situation like this. 

Finally Triton sighed and relented under his sister's ice blue eyes. "Lead the way," he said to Trente. 


	37. The Quietus Command

**Gundam MegaWing: After Colony 225**

**Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Quietus Command**

A low hum came from the computer. 

Arctic Wind opened her eyes and sat up on the cot that she was sleeping on. The incoming message was off of the Preventer frequency, so it must've been from Dragon. Stifling a yawn, she pulled herself into Chronosphere's seat and quickly queued up the message, which immediately began to scroll across the screen.

**THERE'S A HACKER INFILTRATING THE PREVENTER DATABASE, Dragon said. ****SIGNATURE CODE APPEARS TO BE TKROSE. FIND WHAT YOU CAN ON HIM. **

Arctic bit her lip, then immediately sent back a reply. "I'm on it."

It made sense for Dragon to ask her. Quietus had files on almost every known hacker insignia. Most of them actually _worked for Quietus, and they also liked to keep an eye on the competition. But Arctic Wind was pretty certain TKRose wasn't one of the Quietus agents, which was what Dragon wanted to know. _

However, it was always a good idea to make certain.

_TKRose, she thought as she accessed the Quietus accounts. __Why do I have a bad feeling about this? _

"So. Our reports were incorrect?"

"I don't think so, sir," the agent replied, looking at the Quietus Command. "I'm almost positive that 03 was located in that sector."

"Then why were you unable to track him down?" demanded the Command One. The other four Commands looked like they wanted to know the answers as well. Or, at least, their _holograms gave the appearance of wanting to know the answers. No one knew what the Command actually looked like. _

"We can only assume that someone there knew we were coming, and sounded an alarm," replied the agent. "The entire place was deserted. All we came up with were animal corpses. We're still searching the area, but the Preventers will be arriving shortly with a search and rescue team. Apparently a few members of the circus are still unaccounted for. We'll have to pull out, sir."

The Command One growled, but said nothing more on the subject. "What about the disturbance in the Sanq Kingdom? Why did those fools attack there?" 

"They were on their way to the 03 site," replied the agent, "when they saw one of the Mobile Suits from the earlier attacks grounded. They also reported seeing what they assumed to be the pilot running from the site."

"Did they secure the MS?"

"No, sir," the agent replied. "They chased down the pilot, but were forced to break away when the pilot escaped into the city. By the time they arrived back at the MS, the Preventers had already secured the perimeter. They then proceeded to the 03 site." 

The Command One did not look pleased, but it was the Command Two who took up the line of questioning. "Why did those fools go after the pilot? Without the Mobile Suit, the pilot is worth nothing."

"One of the agents had been a former OZ soldier," the agent replied. "He remembered the danger of the five Gundam pilots, and thought that this one could be as dangerous. He also positively ID'd this one as a Gundam, similar to the Chronosphere that Arctic Wind has."

Command Three narrowed her eyes. She was the only female Command of the group. "Should we be trusting this girl? She could be a double-agent."

"She's been with us for a few years," the agent replied. "If she were going to betray us, she would've done so already."

"Point well made," Command Five said, nodding slightly. 

"I still think we should do another background check on this girl," Command Three grumbled. 

"I agree," Command One said. "But we are all very busy people." 

"I will handle the check," Command Five replied. 

"Very well," Command One agreed. He looked at the agent. "You are dismissed. Continue the search for 01, 02, 04, and 05. With the Specimen gone, we'll need at least one of them to complete our plan."

"Yes, sir," the agent said, standing and bowing. Then he left. 

The holograms faded, and the five Commands looked at each other. "Maybe it would be better if we just set about finding Specimen 02," Command Two suggested. 

"That could take forever," Command Five said. "There's been no sign of the boy since he escaped two years ago." 

"Treize is right," Command One said. "We will have better luck if we start the project over again. Our mistake was raising the boy as long as we did. We will not do that again. Meanwhile, we must make sure to cover all routes of treason. That includes Arctic Wind. Make sure she is truly on our side." 

"Have I ever failed you before?" 

"No," Command One answered. "Make certain that you do not start now."


	38. Remembering

**Gundam MegaWing: After Colony 225**

**Chapter Thirty-Eight: Remembering…**

Quatre wasn't feeling very good. 

_Where is he? he thought as he leaned against the tree. The searchlights from the helicopters were still shining around the forest, and Quietus had begun to send down soldiers on foot. They were getting edgy. Nervous. And their nervousness was making Quatre uneasy. _

_Where in the world was Trente? _

It had been almost two hours by his watch. How far away was the city? It shouldn't be taking Trente _that long to get help…and Quatre was losing more blood by the minute. The shrapnel wounds in his leg had completely soaked the cloth Trente had tied around it. Quatre knew he should redress the wound._

But he was just so tired…

So very tired…

And the dreams began…the memories…

_"We'll always be together, won't we, Trowa? You'd never leave me."_

_"Never, little one. I promise." _

_"A new experiment, Quatre. You've always wanted children…this could make it possible!"_

_"What do I have to do?"_

_"Quatre, can't you see that this isn't going to work? If the public knows about this…"_

_"What should it matter, Claire? It's my private life, and how I'll handle it is my business. But I won't do anything without consulting Trowa first."_

_"Dorothy! Trowa…he's…have you seen…do you know where Trowa is?"_

_"No, Quatre. I haven't seen him."_

_"What are you going to name him?"_

_"Trente. He'll be Trente Nanashi."_

_"Nanashi?"_

_"Hai. He will never know that I am his father. He will never know he is a Winner. It's better that way."_

_It's better that way._

_It's better that way._

_Better that way._

_Better…_

"Forgive me, Trente," Quatre murmured as the darkness overcame him.

"Triton, get down!" hissed Trente sharply, grabbing Triton's arm and pulling him down to the ground. A searchlight gleamed over them, but the treetops provided them with enough cover that the Cyborgs on the helicopter couldn't tell them apart from the logs and shrubs on the forest floor.

"This is getting us nowhere," muttered Triton. "We'll never reach Quatre at this rate." 

"Yes, we will," Trente said with determination. "I'm not giving up yet. That man's stood up for me and been there for me my whole life, and it's my turn to repay the favor. Come on, the helicopter's passed." They stood up and resumed there trek through the forest. 

It was now close to midnight, and they were less than halfway to where Trente had left Quatre Raberba Winner, Commander of the Neo-OZ forces. Quatre and Trente Nanashi, pilot of Neo-Gundam 03 Heatseeker, had been stranded after a surprise attack by Quietus on the circus that had found and rescued Trente after Heatseeker had crashed into the Sea of Japan. Trente had managed to make it to where the circus troupe was hiding out after their camp was decimated, and now he and Triton Bloom, one of the performers, were making their way back to Quatre to try and get him out. 

That had been almost an hour and a half ago, and they were still nowhere close to getting to him. 

Trente, who was in the lead, suddenly pitched forward. Triton reached out and grabbed the teenager's arm to steady him. "Watch it," he said. "This place is littered with logs and ditches. We don't need you breaking a leg now, do we?" 

Trente nodded grimly. "Right." He reached for his flashlight. 

Triton grabbed it out of his hand. "Don't even think about it," Triton replied. "They'll be able to see the beam, just like we can see theirs. Granted, theirs are a lot bigger, but there's no sense in taking foolish chances, right?"

Trente looked embarrassed. "Right. Sorry. I forgot." 

They continued walking. 

Another searchlight panned the area, and they hit the ground again. This time the helicopter seemed to hover in the same area, and Trente began to shake with fear that they had located Quatre. Triton placed his hand on Trente's shoulder to calm him. "Relax," he whispered. "Quatre's tough. He's been in more scrapes than you know. He'll make it."

Trente looked at Triton. He had suspected that the older man had once known Quatre, but didn't know how well. "You knew Quatre in the past, didn't you?" he asked. "During the Eve Wars?"

"And the Barton Conflict," Triton replied. "We were both soldiers. Yes, I knew him. But it's been years since I last saw him."

Yes, it had been years. 

But Triton Bloom, otherwise known as Trowa Barton, could remember those days perfectly. 


	39. Before Quietus

**Gundam MegaWing: After Colony 225**

**Chapter Thirty-Nine: Before Quietus**

_After Colony 198…Christmas Eve. _

Quatre Raberba Winner, age 17, stood at the front window in the living room of Relena Dorilan's Sanq Kingdom mansion. Considering how many friends had been gathered, it had only seemed logical that their holiday get-together would be held at either the Winner estate (one of them, at least), or the Peacecraft mansion. Since Zechs and Noin were coming all the way from Mars, they decided to hold it in the Sanq Kingdom, so that they wouldn't have to travel anywhere else after arriving on Earth. 

The Christmas party had started a few hours ago, and was now in full-swing. Quatre turned around and sat on the chair underneath the window, looking at the brightly decorated room filled with his closest friends and family. It was the first time they'd all gotten together since the Barton Conflict one year earlier. 

Duo had overtaken the refreshment table, and was basically growling at anyone who attempted to sample the dinner food before it was time to eat. He let them touch the snacks, but dinner and desert were _off limits. He seemed very serious about this job. Hilde was trying to convince him to leave it alone, but there was having no luck. As Quatre watched with amusement, Hilde slapped her hands against her thighs and marched over to another young man. A minute later, Heero Yuy was dragging Duo onto the dance floor, and the braided pilot was happily going along, food forgotten. _

It was nice, Duo and Heero. Quatre had known for awhile, having been in contact with Duo on a regular basis. He'd been a little worried about Relena's reaction, but when Heero and Duo had arrived, she'd just plastered a smile on her face and greeted them both like long-lost brothers. Her days of Heero-infatuation were over, and it was obvious that she was happy for him. 

Wufei, surprisingly, had shown up with a date of his own. He and Sally had been working closely in the Preventers, both professionally and, apparently, romantically as well. He and Sally seemed to be lost in their conversation with Zechs and Noin. 

"Hi, Quatre."

The nervous voice made Quatre look up. "Oh," he said. "Hi, Dorothy. How are you?"

"Fine." She bit her lip, and looked pretty uncomfortable. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Since you stabbed me with a fencing sword?" Quatre replied. "Yes, it has. But you don't have to be so nervous around me. I forgave you a long time ago."

"You did?" Dorothy managed a small smile. "That's a relief. I almost didn't come tonight, but Lady Une and Relena convinced me. Mariemeia, too. It's hard to resist her."

"You were part of the Eve Wars," Quatre said. "Of course you'd be welcome here." 

"You look like you're waiting for someone," she said. "Anyone I know?" 

Quatre shrugged. 

"Dorothy!" Relena called from across the room. "Quatre! Come on, it's almost time to open presents!" 

Dorothy glanced at Quatre. "Coming?"

"I guess." He glanced one more time at the door, then followed her over to the huge Christmas tree in the center of the room. Duo and Mariemeia were already competing against each other to open the most presents first, and Heero was calmly holding Duo's braid and yanking on it whenever Duo went for a present with someone else's name on it. 

The present opening went quickly, with everyone going at once, and soon there were only a couple of presents left underneath the tree. 

The people they belonged to weren't there. Quatre sighed – one of those presents was from him. He'd been hoping…the doorbell rang. 

"Hey, look who finally showed up!" Duo exclaimed as he opened the door. "You just caught presents!" 

"Thanks, Duo."

Quatre spun around, and came face-to-face with one green eye. "Trowa!" he exclaimed happily. "You came!" 

Trowa nodded, not quite meeting Quatre's eyes. "We got a little delayed because of the snow." He glanced back at Catherine, who was laughingly accepting one of the gifts with her name on it. 

"Oh!" Quatre bent down and grabbed the present he'd been watching. "Here."

"For me?" Trowa asked, eyes widening. 

"Mm-hmm," Quatre said, nodding. "Go on. Open it. Everyone else already opened their presents. There's more, but that one's from me." 

Trowa carefully opened the wrapped box, and removed the item within. "It's beautiful, Quatre," he whispered, fingering the teardrop crystal carefully. "Thank you."

Quatre blushed slightly. "You're welcome, Trowa." 

***

"Triton," Trente whispered, grabbing the older man's arm. "Is something wrong?"

Triton looked at him for a minute, as if seeing someone or something else, then shook his head. "No. Sorry. I was just thinking. How much further?"

"Not too much," Trente replied. "I'm almost positive that it's just over this hill. The helicopter sounds like it went off towards the other end of the forest."

Triton nodded. "All right. Let's go." With Trente leading the way, the two of them sprinted through the underbrush. 

"Quatre!" Trente called, careful to keep his voice from being too loud. There was no telling how good the hearing was of those altered Cyborgs. 

A low groan was the only response. 

Trente shoved aside the drooping branches of the tree that he and Quatre had taken shelter in, and dropped to his guardian's side. "Quatre," he whispered. 

Triton appeared on the other side of Quatre, his good eye wide with shock. Quatre was a mess. "He's unconscious," he said. "We have to get him out of here."

"How?" asked Trente. "And to where?"

"First, out of the forest," replied Triton. He carefully picked up Quatre, and was mentally thankful that Quatre hadn't grown any bigger, and was still fairly light. 

"Can you handle him?" Trente asked uncertainly.

"Yes," Triton replied. "Take the gun and lead the way. I'm not going to be much use so long as I'm carrying Quatre, so you're going to have to defend here. We need to get him to a hospital, soon." 

"Right." Trente cocked his gun, glanced outside the small hideout, then darted out between the willow branches. Triton began to follow, but stopped to get a better hold on Quatre. He glanced at his face. 

Quatre was pale, and his breathing shallow. Aside from his injuries, he was going into shock and was probably dehydrated. _Hang on, Quatre, Triton thought. __Just hang on…little one. _


	40. Deceptive Peace

**Gundam MegaWing: After Colony 225**

**Chapter Forty: Deceptive Peace**

Dorothy made her way to Atlantica's cockpit. "Sandra," she said, stepping up to the pilot's seat. "How close are we?"

"Real close," replied Sandra, adjusting a few controls on the control panel. "If we were any closer, we'd be gouging a hole in the Japan coastline. Lotus is a little ways behind us, since Meila has to keep an eye on air traffic, which we don't have under the water."

Dorothy nodded. "All right. Hand me the intercom system." Sandra queued up the speaker and handed the microphone to Dorothy. "Attention. Prepare for landing on the Japanese coast. We'll be taking Escape Pod 1 on Atlantica's starboard side. Launch is in five minutes. I repeat, launch is in five minutes." She shut off the microphone, and turned again to Sandra. "After we're gone, switch Atlantica back to fight mode and join Meila in the air. I want the two of you to do an aerial scan for Trente or Quatre."

"What if they're in a place we can't locate them?" asked Sandra. "There're a lot of dense forests around here. It'd be easier if they knew we were coming."

"If they knew we were coming," Dorothy said, "we wouldn't have to search for them. If necessary, you and Meila land and search on foot. But be careful where you stash the Neo-Gundams, and keep your comlinks on at all times. If we need a pickup, you better be there within ten minutes, tops." 

"Hai," Sandra said, nodding. "You should get going, Lieutenant-Commander."

"Good luck, Sandra," Dorothy said before disappearing into the main part of Atlantica. 

There was a sudden beep, and Meila's face appeared on the communications screen. "How soon can you get up here, Sandra?" she asked, her expression tight. 

"Five minutes," replied Sandra. "What's going on?"

"Cyclones," was the reply. "I'm surrounded up here, but I don't think they realize it's me. They only know it's a cloaked, unidentifiable craft. Lotus is ready to fight, but I want to avoid it if necessary. It'd be nice to have some back-up."

Sandra checked her screens, and saw that the Escape Pod was a few seconds away from launch. When it cleared, she immediately threw Atlantica into fight mode. "I'm on my way." 

"Hurry," Meila said. "I think they've begun to figure it out."

_After Colony 199…Mid-April_

Sunlight filtered into the spacious suite that made up only part of the Winner private quarters attached to the Winner Enterprises Headquarters on L4. The Winner colony was one of the few colonies in perfect position to get light directly from the sun, instead of having it reflected and filtered, like so many other colonies. Quatre enjoyed this. If there was one thing he loved, it was the sun. 

Well, actually, the sun was the second thing he loved. 

The first was the man currently sharing his bed. 

Quatre opened his eyes and tilted his head back, looking at the peaceful expression on Trowa's face. He and Trowa had been an unofficial couple since New Years following Relena's Christmas Party, and just recently had gone public when Trowa had moved in with him. Reporters tended to follow the infamous Gundam pilots like bloodhounds, and had jumped on the story instantly. Trowa hadn't liked it much – not for how people would treat him, but for how Quatre would get treated. 

Quatre didn't care. Last night, he and Trowa had moved to the next level in their relationship. He was happy. And hell if he'd let some smart-ass reporters convince people that what he had with Trowa wasn't proper for the Winner heir. It irked him that he was _still referred to as that, even though his father had been dead for almost four years now. He was 19 years old, and had finally come into his inheritance a year earlier. _

He stretched and kissed Trowa softly, half-waking him. The older man kissed back as a reflex, then gradually with more response as he become coherent. He opened his eyes and looked at Quatre. "Good morning," he said softly, smiling. 

"Morning," replied Quatre, matching his grin. "I think we slept in." 

Trowa glanced at the clock. "You should've been in the office an hour ago," he said. "What are people going to think?"

"Who cares?" Quatre asked, but he managed to drag himself out of bed to prepare for the day. As he dug around in his closet for a clean shirt, he noticed that his phone was blinking. "Trowa? Could you press the message button for me?" 

There was a beep, and then an older, female voice came over the speaker. 

"_Quatre, it's Claire. Your sister. I need to talk to you now__. It's important. Pick up the phone." _

"What time was that?" Quatre asked. 

Trowa checked. "We were at dinner." 

Another beep. "_Quatre, it's Claire again. I really__ need to talk to you. I know you have to be there, so please, answer." _

"Time?" 

"An hour later." 

"Where were we then?"

"Home, but occupied." 

"Right. I remember – I turned off the ringer." 

Another beep. "_Quatre. As soon as you get my messages, call me. I need to talk to you ASAP. I don't like to be kept waiting."_

"Trowa?" 

"Midnight. Ringer still off – not sure what we were doing then. There's one more."

"_Quatre, get your ass out of bed now, __young man. I'm on my way over, and you better be in your office when I get there. Understood?" _

Quatre sighed and hastily buttoned up his dress shirt. Trowa's arms wrapped around him, and Trowa placed a soft kiss on the top of his head. "That was about forty-five minutes ago," he said. "She's probably here already." 

"My secretary would've called if she were," Quatre replied. "But I should get going. I have no idea what she wants. Claire isn't a relative I'm particularly fond of. She likes to think of herself as a replacement for Father."

"Still," Trowa said, "you shouldn't keep her waiting."

Quatre tugged on his pants, and then ran a comb through his hair. "Good thing I showered before I fell asleep," he said. "What're your plans for the day?"

Trowa lifted his chin up and kissed him. "Waiting for you," he said when they broke.

"I'll be back for lunch," Quatre promised. 

"I'll be here," Trowa replied. 

Quatre kissed him again, quickly, then hurried for the elevator that would take him to his office a couple floors below. 

What in the world could Claire possibly find so urgent? 


	41. Stepping Closer to Disaster

**Gundam MegaWing: After Colony 225**

**Chapter Forty-One: Stepping Closer to Disaster**

The Cyclones had paused for approximately five seconds. 

Then, as one, their spinning blades shot out, and they turned towards Lotus. They had finally seen through the cloaking device, and Meila had absolutely no place to escape from. Lotus was a sitting duck. _If I get out of this alive, she said, __I'm telling Quatre that next time, he can arrange his own damn rescue party. _

Several laser blasts erupted from the ocean, tearing through five Cyclones in a row, leaving a big enough gap for Meila to maneuver Lotus through. "Thanks, Sandra!" she shouted. 

Atlantica rose in the air, still shaking off water. Her armor was covered with laser cannons, each trained at a different Cyclone. "I have your back," Sandra replied. Head further inland."

"There are inhabited cities there!" Meila objected. 

"Exactly," Sandra replied. "Quietus can't risk being exposed yet. The Cyclones will have to stop before they get too far. We'll head in a little, then start our search as soon as we lose them. Lieutenant-Commander Catalonia is already onshore, and they'll start a manual search. Our orders are to search from air." The whole time she was relaying this to her fellow pilot, she was firing blast after blast at the onrushing Cyclones. 

But, just as she predicted, they gave up the chase after only a few miles inland. 

"Why'd they give up so easily?" muttered Meila. "Quietus wants us dead, no matter what the cost."

"I don't think they knew it was us," Sandra replied. "We were cloaked the whole time. They just identified us as Mobile Suits, and were probably programmed to attack any unknown Suits. Remember, their sensors aren't as powerful as ours."

"Right." Meila said. "Well, I guess we should begin that search. With luck, we'll find them soon. Where should we start?"

"In the easiest place," replied Sandra. "Where they were last seen." 

"But we don't know where that circus is!" exclaimed Meila.

Sandra looked at the information that was scrolling up on her computer screen. "Yes, we do. Isaac hacked into Quatre's travel files, and got the address that the taxi company dropped him off at. I don't know Japan that well."

Meila had the information, too. "I know that area. Follow me." 

_After Colony 207…Early December_

Quatre entered his large, spacious office, and stopped short. "Claire." 

The tall brunette was sitting in _his chair, in __his office, looking like __she was the head of Winner Enterprises. "Hello, little brother," she said, frowning. "Have a seat." _

"Considering you're _in my seat, I can't," Quatre said icily. He was usually courteous with his siblings, but Claire deserved nothing of the sort. He couldn't stand the thought of her, the sight of her. "What the hell are you doing here?"_

Claire looked at her younger brother, now twenty-eight years old. He'd had a growth spurt at age twenty, and was now just a couple of inches shy of six feet. He'd grown out his blonde hair slightly, and had definitely taken to working out on a regular basis. He was a brother she should've been proud of. 

"I read in the papers that you're still going out with _him," Claire said, tapping her fingers on his desk and making no effort to move. "I distinctly remember telling you that if you ever wanted to make it in the business world, you'd give up that bastard and settle down with a woman." _

"And here I thought you were here to invite me over for Christmas," Quatre said sarcastically. "Your little threats and messages over the years didn't do any good, so now you're going to tear apart my choice of lovers to my face? I thought you said you weren't homophobic, _big sister."_

"I'm not," Claire said. "If you were anyone else, I'd have no problem with it. But you're not. You're the Winner heir."

Quatre slammed his fist down onto the desktop. "I'm _not the Winner Heir anymore!" he shouted. "I'm not a little child that you have to protect! I had to grow up faster than anyone in this family, Claire, and I discovered quite a few things about myself along the way. And one is that I love Trowa. And I'm __not going to give him up! If you want to disown me for that, fine – I'll fight you every step of the way. You're not taking him away from me, and you're not taking the company away from me, either! Iria and Zoey back me in this one hundred percent – now get the hell out of my office! And if you ever…__ever set foot in this building, or on this colony again, I personally know four people who will very willingly hunt you down and make sure you're never found – identifiable." _

Claire's cheeks flushed. She'd never seen Quatre so angry. _He's bluffing, she thought. __The only person he could know that would do that is him__, and he'd never…_

Quatre narrowed his eyes. "Did you hear me?"

"You're ruining this company, and this family!" spat Claire. "If you hadn't been born, any one of us could've taken over after Father died, and our children would've inherited. But no, you had to go and make it so you _wouldn't have children! You're a selfish, spoiled brat, Quatre Raberba Winner!" _

Very calmly, Quatre picked up the telephone and dialed his secretary. "Yasmine?" he asked. "Please connect me to Duo Maxwell, on L2. Yes, it's important." 

That name rang in Claire's ears. She reached over and slammed her finger on the disconnect button. "Fine," she snarled. "You win. You don't have to call your dogs on me." She knew perfectly well who Duo Maxwell was – and Heero Yuy, Chang Wufei, and Zechs Marquise, who were no doubt the other three people Quatre had been referring to. She'd forgotten that he'd maintained contact with those social mistakes. It had to be a qualifying point that all Gundam pilots were homicidal, insane, and absolutely dangerous. The pilots of Deathscythe, Wing Zero, Altron, and Epyon were definitely all three. "But you haven't heard the last of me, little brother. Count on it." She picked up her purse, tossed her hair over her shoulder, and stepped out of the office. 

Quatre sighed and sank into his seat. The phone rang. "Hello?"

"Hey, Cat!" Duo's cheerful voice said. "Yasmine tried to connect us, but we were disconnected. What's up?"

"Nothing, now," Quatre said. "Just an unpleasant encounter with the Ice Queen."

Duo smiled sympathetically, and Quatre was glad that technology allowed calls to be visual as well as audio. He really needed to see his best friend (aside from Trowa) at a time like this. "Still spouting that crap about you and Trowa?" 

"Yeah," Quatre replied, nodding. "She brought up that no-heir situation again."

"Still not sure how to solve that?" Duo asked.

"Not a clue," Quatre answered. "The rules stipulate that it must be biological, male, and born naturally. But I've been talking to Iria and Zoey, and they might've found a way around that." Iria was a doctor, and Zoey was a lawyer. If anyone could find a way around it, they could. 

"Well, I'll be looking forward to the outcome," Duo said. Then he bit his lip. "Hey, Cat? I gotta tell you something, and you've got to swear to absolute secrecy – that you won't tell _anyone." _

"What?" Quatre leaned forward, concerned. 

Duo held up his left hand, and a gold ring glistened on his ring finger. 

Quatre's jaw dropped. "Duo! That's --!" 

"An engagement ring," Duo replied, nodding. "Heero and I are getting married!" 

"That's great!" Quatre exclaimed. "Congratulations!" 

"Thanks," Duo said, grinning. "Maybe this'll convince Trowa to finally get down on one knee and pop the question to you. Or you to him."

"Yeah, right." Marriage wasn't an option for him and Trowa, not so long as they were in the spotlight. Which reminded me… "But how are you going to avoid the press? I'm known because of my job, and Trowa because he's my partner, but we've tried to be discrete with the rest of you. You and Heero are the only ones who have successfully hidden from the public eye. A marriage ceremony, with documentation, will definitely catch the news' attention."

"A wedding between Heero Yuy and Duo Maxwell, sure," Duo said. "Not a wedding between Odin Lowe Jr. and Tobias Sheridan." 

Quatre stared at him in stunned silence. "You mean…you're going back to your original names?" Heero had always known his real name, but Duo had only just discovered his family a few years ago. Both of his parents were dead, but he'd gained a couple of cousins, an aunt, and a younger sister in the search. What had been more shocking was that Duo was also heir to family fortune – one that continued to sit in a trust fund. Duo hadn't touched a cent since he'd found out about it. 

"Yup," Duo said. "There's no need to be Heero and Duo anymore. Let the real Heero Yuy rest peacefully with his name, and let Duo Maxwell, the God of Death, fade into dust. It's time to give it up. It'll be official in a couple of weeks – don't tell anyone until then. Not even Trowa. Promise?"

"Promise," Quatre said, nodding. He'd have no trouble keeping it from Trowa, who wouldn't even be back from his visit to Catherine until next week. Then Quatre glanced at the clock. "Oh, hell, I have to go meet Iria in a couple minutes. I'll talk to you later. Good luck."

"Thanks," Duo said, grinning. "See ya, Cat." 

Quatre signed off and closed the terminal just as Iria walked into the room. 

"I heard Claire was here," she said.

"A few minutes ago," Quatre replied. "She's gone. What's so urgent that I had to get up this early?"

Iria handed him a paper. "I think I've discovered a way around this no-heir problem." 


	42. Identity Revealed

**Gundam MegaWing: After Colony 225**

**Chapter Forty-Two: Identity Revealed**

The sounds of the helicopter faded away as it headed towards the other side of the forest. "Damn it, don't they ever give up?" growled Trente. "That's the problem with Cyborgs – they don't tired out as quickly as humans." 

"You seem to know a lot about their soldiers, even though they don't know much about you," Triton said as he ducked under a low branch, careful not to hit Quatre's head on as he straightened up. "Why?"

"Neo-OZ has known about Quietus for a long time," replied Trente. "Before I was born, I think. Before he died, Zechs Marquise gave Quatre and Lady Une of the Preventers a ton of information. No names, unfortunately – he never had a chance to get that information to us. He died the day he said he'd send it." 

"I remember reading about that," Triton replied. "A shuttle accident, right?" 

"It wasn't an accident," Trente said darkly. He glanced back at Triton. "How is he?" he asked, meaning Quatre. 

"Still out," replied Triton. "And I don't like the looks of that leg. He needs a doctor." 

At that precise moment, the trees suddenly stopped, and the shelter was illuminated before them. "We made it!" Trente exclaimed. "Look, there's Catherine!" 

Catherine was standing in the doorway of the building, but something about her expression made Triton pause. Unfortunately, in that moment, Trente started to run towards the shelter. 

Then Triton saw what made him stop. Hidden in the shadows, with a heavy blade pressed against Catherine's throat, was what had to be a Cyborg soldier. They were waiting for them. Someone had betrayed them. "Trente, get down!" he shouted. "It's a trap!" 

At that precise moment, a dozen Cyborg soldiers leapt down from the trees above them.

"Triton!" Trente shouted, whirling around as he heard the Cyborgs leap down. Triton had thrown himself to the ground, shielding Quatre's unconscious body. Now he was up, and still defending him. Trente watched in shock as Triton delivered a hard kick to the back of one Cyborg's neck, snapping it neatly. He did it with such grim precision that Trente was thankful he was on his side. 

"Triton!" Catherine shouted from where she was being held. Trente looked back at her, and saw that the Cyborg still had its blade pressed against her throat. 

"Surrender, boy," commanded the Cyborg, "or the lady dies." He pressed the blade tighter against the skin of her neck, and Trente clenched his fists. 

"Trente, behind you!" 

Trente didn't waste a second before sidestepping. A Cyborg stumbled past him, its center of balance interrupted, and Trente slammed his hand into its neck, disabling it. He could literally see the power shutting down. "Triton, aim for the back of the neck!" he shouted. "There's some sort of power switch there! It'll disable them!" 

"I thought these things were part human!" Triton shouted as he dropped down and whipped his leg around to trip one up, then hit the power switch.

"They're also part machine!" Trente shouted back. "It's what makes them so dangerous! They have absolutely no respect for human lives." 

"For good reason!" one of the Cyborgs snarled, launching himself at Trente. His head slammed into Trente's stomach, and the two of them fell to the ground. The wind knocked out of him, Trente groaned as the Cyborg pinned him to the ground as a long, sharp knife flicked out of his artificial hand. 

Something slammed into the Cyborg's shoulder – his _flesh shoulder – and he howled in pain. This gave Trente enough time to gather and right himself, then deliver sharp kick to the soldier's chin. His head snapped up, and there was a sickening __crack! as his neck snapped. Trente looked around to see what had happened. _

Catherine had somehow gotten free of her captor, and had flung one of her show knives at his attacker. "Thanks, Ms. Catherine!" Trente called. "Now get out of here before you get into trouble!" Behind him, Triton threw another Cyborg over his shoulder, then disabled him with a press of the power switch. Deactivated Cyborgs littered the ground, Trente was amazed at how fast Triton Bloom had moved. 

But there were still more coming. 

_What is it that they want so badly? Trente thought. __All this to capture me and Quatre? They don't even have any proof that I'm the pilot of Heatseeker! _

Suddenly, floodlights illuminated the area, and Trente and Triton were both forced to cover their eyes. Trente just barely managed to look up. "Oh, shit!" he shouted. "Cyclones!"

"What?" Catherine and Triton shouted. 

"Quietus' Mobile DOLL Units!" he answered. 

A voice emanated from one of them over a speaker system. "Surrender now and we will not harm this area!" the voice shouted. "I repeat, surrender now and we will not harm this area! Deny this request, and we will be forced to take drastic measures!" 

Triton cupped his hands over his mouth and shouted back, "What's the stop you from doing that even if we do surrender? And how are you going to explain yourself to the Earth Sphere United Government?"

The voice seemed to pause, and then responded, "All we seek is a fugitive from space. Under Code 1349834-67, we are within rights to hold him until we clear him of charges." 

_Him? Trente thought. He hurried over to where Triton and Quatre were. "Suddenly I'm not so sure they're after the two of us. Ask who they're after, and what the charges are." _

Triton nodded, and shouted up, "Who is it that you seek, and what are the charges? If we're harboring a criminal, and there is proof, we'll cooperate."

Again, the voice seemed to pause. "We are searching for someone we believe may be behind a terrorist attack against the Mars Colony. We believe his name is Trowa Barton." 

"What?" whispered Catherine softly, so softly that only those closest to her could hear her. Other shocked responses rose from the other circus workers who had joined them outside once the fighting seemed to have stopped. Cyborg soldiers were standing at attention – this voice was obviously someone important. Trente made a note of what it sounded like, then waited to see what would happen next. 

Triton took a deep breath. "There is no one here by that name," he replied. "The only Trowa Barton I'm aware of is the son of Dekim Barton of the Barton Foundation, and he died thirty-one years ago."

The Cyborgs looked at him suspiciously, but seemed to wait. "Very well," the voice said after a moment. "Cyborgs, retreat." Then the floodlights snapped off, and the Cyclones turned and headed off in some unknown direction, probably towards their carrier. The Cyborgs turned as one unit and marched off, leaving their fallen comrades behind. 

Catharine hurried over and threw her arms around her brother. "That was close! So they _weren't after Quatre and Trente!" _

"No," Trente said, frowning. "They weren't." He knelt down next to Quatre and checked to see how he was doing. "We need a doctor." 

The doctor who had helped him before was already on his way over. He knelt beside Quatre and looked him over. "Leave everything to me, son," the doctor said. "I'll get him settled, and then make sure he gets taken to the nearest hospital." 

"Arigatou," Trente said softly. He stood up and, with one last look at Quatre, turned towards the forest. He walked to the edge and stood there for a few minutes, just thinking silently and scanning the trees to make sure all the Cyborgs were gone.

"Somebody want to explain what just happened?"

He looked over at Triton. The older man was cut and bruised, but seemed to have come out of the fight okay. "I wish I knew," Trente replied. "What worries me is that the Cyclones were able to get here without any real problem, and they don't have cloaking shields. I can't see Quietus taking unnecessary chances, but I'd hate to think that they might be able to come up with an excuse for the Cyclones. Something isn't adding up here."

"What about them asking for Trowa Barton?" Triton asked. "You know as well as I do that they probably meant the Gundam pilot." 

"No doubt." Trente bit his lip. "I _really don't know what to make of all of it."_

Suddenly, from behind them, somebody screamed. "Something's landing!" the woman shrieked, and Trente and Triton both spun around to look.

The grass was flattened, as if something had landed or was landing on top of it. That was the only evidence at all that there was something there. But as they watched, a shape slowly materialized, and then solidified, revealing an amazingly-crafted Mobile Suit. 

"What is that?" Triton breathed. 

Trente had to pinch himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming. The blue and purple armor, the feminine shape, the dragon's head GigaCannon on the front – it could only be one MS. "Well, I'll be damned," he said before sprinting towards the Mobile Suit. 

He got to the foot of it just as the cockpit opened, and a small, lithe person jumped out. Holding the elevator cord, the pilot was lowered to the ground directly in front of the Trente. The pilot was wearing a blue and gold flight suit with the Neo-OZ emblem on the back, and the name **Fuang on the front left side, over the heart. There was also a space helmet hiding the pilot's face. **

"Are you Trente Nanashi?" the pilot asked. 

"Hai," Trente said, standing and saluting. "And judging from your MS, you must be Meila Fuang."

Meila reached up and removed her helmet, revealing her face. She smiled happily at Trente. "You have no idea how happy I am to see you," she replied, holding out her hand.

He shook it firmly. "Wrong, Meila. You have no idea how happy _I am to see __you." _

Finally, things seemed like they were going to be getting back to normal – until Meila caught sight of the man walking towards them. Her eyes widened, and she gasped in shock. Trente turned, and saw only Triton. "Something wrong?"

"You're…you're…oh, I don't believe it!" Meila practically squealed. 

Triton looked at her from behind his bangs. His hair had come out of his ponytail during the fight, and now that his hair was free, his bangs seemed to be covering one side of his face. His green eyes looked at Meila in confusion, and, Trente noticed, a little fear. 

"Trente, I don't believe this!" she exclaimed. "You've been with Trowa Barton this whole time, and you didn't mention it when you called Headquarters?!" 

Trente nearly fell over, and he stared at Triton. "_You're Trowa Barton?" _


	43. It's a Long Story

**Gundam MegaWing: After Colony 225**

**Chapter Forty-Three: It's a Long Story**

Ten minutes later, Meila, Trente, Catherine, and Triton were seated inside of Lotus, in Meila's little apartment behind the cockpit. Lotus was the only Neo-Gundam who couldn't carry passengers, due to the extra wiring and mechanics needed to operate the GigaCannon. However, there was plenty of room for just four people. Meila settled into the pilot's seat, Catherine and Trente sat on the small futon that served as her bed, and Triton was sitting on the floor, his back against the wall. 

Meila pulled off her headset, then flipped a switch. The screen cleared, and they could see down into the field below them, where Quatre was being worked on by the doctor. "Sandra's located the team," she said. "Their ETA is about twenty minutes. That should give us enough time to sort some things out." She glanced from Trente, to Catherine, to Triton. 

"I'd really like to know what's going on here," Trente said, looking hard at Triton. "You said you didn't know Trowa Barton."

"What was he supposed to do?" Catherine demanded, defending her younger brother. "Surrender to Quietus, when obviously he had nothing to do with any terrorist plot against them? He wasn't even aware of Quietus until you showed up!" 

Triton put a hand on Catherine's shoulder, and shook his head. "Calm down, Cathy," he said. "It's not their fault. I'm the one who's been running." 

"But Triton…" Catherine looked at him and bit her lip. "You did what you had to do." 

"No, I didn't," Triton said. "I could've confronted Quatre…I didn't. Instead, I left. I changed my name, my life, my appearance – all so that the others wouldn't find me." 

"You're not the only Gundam pilot to disappear," Meila said. "Wufei Chang, Duo Maxwell, and Heero Yuy all dropped off the radar a long time ago." _Even though we think we know the location of Heero Yuy… "Only Quatre was unable to hide." _

"And look at him now," Triton said, shaking his head slowly. He looked at the screen, at the image of the unconscious commander. "Commander of Neo-OZ. He used to be such a pacifist. He used to hate war."

"He still does," Trente said softly. "Not a day goes by that he doesn't remind someone of that. He fights because he has to. Quietus can't be allowed to win. And I wish I knew why they were looking for you, if you really and truly are Trowa Barton."

"I am," Triton said, sighing. "It's been almost seventeen years since I went by that name, though. But I am the man once known as Trowa Barton, pilot of the Gundam Heavyarms." 

"Mr. Barton – Bloom – um…what should I call you?" Meila asked uncertainly. 

"Triton will do," Triton replied. "It's my birth name, after all. Trowa was just a code name." 

"Okay. Triton," Meila continued, "could you tell us why you hid yourself? You don't have to tell us everything, but anything could be helpful. Really. It might make it easier to understand why Quietus is after you." 

Triton took in a deep breath, and Catherine reached over and squeezed his hand. He glanced momentarily at Trente, who was watching him intently, obviously waiting for an answer to Meila's question. "It could take awhile."

"Whatever you can tell us." 

He nodded. "All right. 

"Thirty years ago, I was involved in the Eve Wars. I was a Gundam pilot, and I had no friends. I had been trained to work alone. When I met Quatre and the others, there was an instant connection. Even though it was hard for us to work together at first, I knew that deep inside, I would do anything for these new allies of mine, and they would do the same for me. The bond that connects a Gundam pilot to his fellow pilots is something so strong, nothing can break it. 

"Even after the Mariemeia Incident a year later, that bond remained strong. The five of us went our separate ways for awhile – Quatre to his company,  Duo to the scrapyard, Wufei to the Preventers, myself to the circus, and Heero to who knows where – but it wasn't long before we'd all landed jobs with the Preventers. Our friendships with each other grew from there, as did our friendships with the others also involved in the wars. 

"Quatre remained my best friend that entire time." Triton smiled softly, most likely at a memory only he could recall. "I wanted nothing more than to protect him from the dangers in the world, so when he decided to leave the Preventers to return to the Winner Corporation full-time, I went with him, as a bodyguard. To make a long story short, we became lovers shortly after that."

Trente and Meila drew in sharp breaths, and their eyes widened. "You're kidding…right?" Trente asked uncertainly. 

"Surprised?" Triton asked. "Believe me, so was I. Until Quatre approached me, I had no idea he was gay, or even bisexual! I had convinced myself that he couldn't return my feelings. But he did, and we were together for quite a few years. 

"His family, however…they weren't as pleased. Oh, some of them were happy Quatre had finally found someone who cared about him, particularly Iria and Zoey. But there was one who completely disapproved of our relationship. Claire." He shuddered in obvious distaste. "Quatre had to literally threaten to send Duo, Heero, Wufei, and Zechs after her, and if it had come to that, I would've gone as well. She never missed a chance to tell Quatre how thoroughly disgusting and immoral our relationship was, especially since Quatre was the Winner Heir." 

"I bet he hated that," Trente said, shaking his head and grinning ruefully. "Sometimes people call him the 'Winner Heir' as a joke – they don't ever do it again. He's very sensitive."

"Yes," Triton agreed, "I imagine that would still bother him."

"So, what's so important about this Claire lady?"

Triton narrowed his eyes. "Apparently, she was the whole reason Quatre and I split up." 

Catherine looked at Triton, blinking. "This is new. I haven't heard this part."

"That's because I just found out about it," Triton replied. "Quatre told me when he came to pick up Trente at the circus. See, about seventeen years ago, I walked out on Quatre. Left, and didn't come back." He sighed. "I thought Quatre was cheating on me with Dorothy Catalonia."

"Dorothy?" Meila and Trente repeated incredulously. 

"What would make you think _that?" Trente added, the mere idea of Quatre with Dorothy making him wonder if everyone was going crazy or if it was just him. Dorothy had practically been a mother to him, but he couldn't picture his pacifist guardian dating her. _

"Quatre had begun to distance himself from me," Triton replied, "and had started to meet secretly with Dorothy. Claire was the one who told me about that, and even though I knew I shouldn't believe her, she seemed to have undeniable proof. What I didn't know was that Lady Une was also present at those secret meetings, and they were about Quietus and Neo-OZ. Quatre had to tell me that when he confronted me a couple days ago." _Had it really been that recent? _

"There had to be something else that made you believe it," Meila said, shaking her head. "You're too smart to fall for something like that unless there was more."

"Claire also falsified documents stating that Dorothy was pregnant, and Quatre was the father," Triton continued. 

Trente nearly choked. "Hold it. _Dorothy and __Quatre had a __kid? When?!"_

"It wasn't true," Triton said, shaking his head. "At least, not the way I was thinking. I don't know all of the details, but I know that it wasn't what I was thinking, and it wasn't what Claire was making me think. But instead of confronting Quatre about it, I picked the coward's way out and left without so much as a note. And I didn't see Quatre again until yesterday, when he came to get you, Trente." 

"And that's when you first heard about Quietus?" Meila asked, frowning. 

"That's right," Triton said, nodding. "That's all."

"It doesn't make much sense," Trente said to Meila. "If he never knew about Quietus, how would _they know about __him?" _

"I know," Meila muttered. "And what would they possibly want with him?" 

A soft chirping sound went off in the cockpit, and Meila spun around expertly in the pilot's chair to turn on the screen. "Lotus here," she said. "Who is it?"

"Me," Sandra replied. "The Lieutenant-Commander is about three minutes away from you – they will escort the Commander and Pilot Nanashi to me from where you are. Then, we will head to the nearest Preventers base, under Lady Une's request. Meanwhile, Pilot O'Reilly has asked that one of us tell Lieutenant-Commander Catalonia that he wants her to call him as soon as possible. Understood?"

Meila rolled her eyes. "Man, you sound like a robot, Sandy," she said. "I understand. Thanks for the heads up, and I'll tell Dorothy about Isaac's call. See ya." She shut off the screen and looked down at the field. Somebody was waving at something in the distance, and it looked like a large Jeep. "Looks like the cavalry has arrived," she said. 

Outside, Dorothy maneuvered the Jeep over to where a man dressed as a clown was waving them down. "Are you with the mobile suit?" the clown asked when she pulled the Jeep to a stop. She motioned for the rest of her team to wait. "

"Are you with the circus?" she asked, ignoring his question.

"Yes," the clown replied. "The pilot of the Mobile Suit said you'd be coming. It's over here."

Lotus had already deactivated the stealth shield again, and the cockpit was opening up. A figure swung down using the elevator cable, and Dorothy was out of the Jeep in a flash. She wasted no time in running to Trente and throwing her arms around him in relief. "Thank God you're okay!" she exclaimed, squeezing him tightly. "We were all so worried about you! Where's Quatre?"

"Over here," Trente said, leading her to where Quatre was resting. The doctor was still kneeling beside him, keeping a watchful eye on the blond man. "How is he?" 

The doctor looked up. "Sleeping, now," he said. "I put him on painkillers because of the leg, but you'll probably want to get him to a medical facility as soon as you can. He'll need to be monitored more closely. He's very lucky to have lasted this long, but he's out of danger now."

"Thank you," Dorothy said, smiling with relief. "I'm sorry we've put you through this."

"No trouble at all," the doctor said, standing up. "Any friend of Triton's is a friend of mine. I have a few other people to look at, so I'll just be excusing myself now. Take care."

Dorothy turned to look at Trente, quizzically. "Who's Triton?" 

Trente sighed. "It's a long story." 


	44. Just a Little Longer

**Gundam MegaWing: After Colony 225**

**Chapter Forty-Four: Just a Little Longer…**

Isaac drummed his fingers against the wooden top of his desk and stared stonily at the computer screen in front of him. He'd been staring at the same damn screen for the last thirty minutes, waiting and waiting for Dorothy to return his call. 

Waiting…and waiting…and waiting…

Dorothy's image suddenly popped up on the screen. "What's going on?" she asked.

Isaac sat up straight and grinned at his cousin. "Oh, nothing much. How're Quatre and Trente?"

"In one piece, although Quatre needs some medical attention," Dorothy replied. "What do you want, Isaac?"

"Am I that transparent?" Isaac asked, pouting.

"Yes," Dorothy replied. "Spill it."

He sighed. "You're no fun. Anyway, just called to let you know two things – one, that Kenji called about an hour ago. The guy's been in the Sanq Kingdom this entire time, can you believe it? He wanted to know how things were going here. Oh, and Lady Une apparently knew his location this entire time."

"I know," Dorothy answered. "She's kept me filled in. We're supposed to meet up with him at the Preventers base in Lake Victoria, which is where we're headed now. Is that all?"

"Is that _all, she asks?" muttered Isaac. "You know, keeping secrets about pilots from fellow pilots is not a good way to get people to trust you, cuz."_

"I don't need you to trust me," Dorothy replied. "I just need you to follow orders. Is. That. All?"

"No, actually." He took a deep breath. "I just want to tell you the little something I forgot to mention before you and the girls left."

"What?" 

"I know where Heero Yuy is."

Dorothy gripped the computer console she was sitting at, and stared at Isaac in shock. "Run that by me again." 

"I. Know. Where. Heero. Yuy. Is," Isaac said slowly, pronouncing each word carefully.

"Nobody's heard from Heero in years," Dorothy said. "What makes you so sure that you've found him?"

Isaac looked sheepish. "Well, I wasn't entirely convinced by Kenji's story about working for the Preventers, so I decided to hack into their personnel database. They've got every person who ever worked for them on file – I saw Quatre, Duo Maxwell, Trowa Barton, Wufei Chang, and Heero Yuy, but no Kenji Lowe. Anywhere. Then, while I was hunting around for even a _mention of the guy's name, I hit something interesting. Apparently, someone in the Preventers was trying to do a background check on Kenji Lowe. Agents Water and Dragon – I don't know their real names. _

"I'll contact Lady Une and see if she'll fill me in," Dorothy replied. "Go on."

"Well, being the totally cool computer hacker that I am, I decided to dig a little deeper and following their trail. I don't mind not getting information first, so long as I get the information. But I noticed something interesting: the search bypassed the L1 records. 

"This naturally struck my interest, and I got off the trail to dig a little deeper into L1. It turns out that somebody - and not the colony officials - triple-encoded the security system for the colony so that nobody could access the records."

"Let me guess," Dorothy said, sighing. "You accessed the records."

Isaac looked a little sheepish. "Ah, no. Which just goes to show how good this guy had to be. I dug around, and noticed an awful lot of similarities between the security system he installed in L1, and the security system installed for Neo-OZ's files."

Dorothy drew in a sharp breath.

"You see where I'm heading with this," Isaac continued. "I once hacked into Neo-Oz's programs, and found the tag that the program designer for the security program used. Being familiar with _that program made it easy for me to ID the hacker who designed __this program. And his handle, once the code was broken, was Wing Zero._

"Now, tell me, cousin - who else but Heero Yuy would ever use that particular handle?"

Dorothy reached up and rubbed her temples, a clear sign that she was beginning to get a headache. "Great. Just what I need now. More confusion. Switch me to a secure line, Isaac - now."

"Will do." Isaac tapped out a few commands, then gave Dorothy the go ahead. 

"Okay. Isaac, I want you to get to L1 and find Heero Yuy. He'll probably be under a new name, because I'm almost positive that he changed his name several years ago. Quatre would probably know, but Quatre's unconscious - meanwhile, I'll pick Trowa's brains."

"Trowa? As in, Trowa Barton? As in, pilot of Heavyarms?"

"It's a long story," Dorothy replied. "When you find him, take him into custody under the pretext of the Preventers  - make up some bogus charge, and Une will make sure that it won't be challenged. Then get him to Lake Victoria, because something really strange is going on, and I don't know what. 

"What I do know is this: the circus that Trente was at, the Quatre went to, and that Trowa has been living at for the last several years was completely wiped out by Quietus, and I'm not entirely convinced that Trente was their target. Unlike with MegaWing, which crashed outside the Sanq Kingdom with more than a few eyewitnesses, Heatseeker hit the Sea of Japan shortly before dawn. It was already completely submerged by the time Trente was pulled out of the cockpit."

"In other words," Isaac said softly, "how the hell could Quietus have known?" His eyes widened. "You think they were after Quatre or Trowa, don't you?"

"I think Quietus has an agenda, and we need to know what it is," replied Dorothy. "And if it comes down to an all-out war, I'd feel a lot better knowing that we have someone like Heero Yuy on our side."

Isaac nodded in understanding. "I'll get right on it, Dorothy. Don't worry about it." 

"I worry about anything you do, Isaac, and you know it," Dorothy replied. "Your mother says hello, by the way."

Isaac bit his lip. "Return the greeting for me, would you?"

"How long do you plan on continuing this charade, Isaac?" Dorothy asked. 

He leaned back in his chair and stared at the computer screen silently. "Is my mother going to be at Lake Victoria?"

"Yes," Dorothy replied. 

He tapped his fingers against the armrest of his chair. "I think a lot of secrets are going to be revealed soon, Dorothy. Mine is just going to be one of them."

"Intuition, again?" 

Isaac nodded slightly. "As a man with secrets, I can tell who else has them. Quatre, Kenji, Sandra…and none of us can keep secrets forever. Not and still survive. They'll know soon, Dorothy. I can promise you that." 

TKRose. 

The name of the hacker had been easy to get from Preventer Dragon, but finding it in Quietus' files and records was harder than Arctic Wind had expected. TKRose was _not, in fact, a hacker under Quietus' jurisdiction, unlike what she had expected. She had figured that he was, seeing as how Dragon had seemed urgent about it. _

She stared at the grainy photo of the young man. He didn't look more than thirteen or fourteen, but she knew the picture was not recent. TKRose, apparently, had vanished shortly after testifying in a murder case. 

That wasn't what disturbed her, though. She had no doubt that he had probably disappeared into the Witness Protection Agency - his name hadn't even been made public to press. Quietus had had a member in the court room, which was the only reason they even knew he'd been a witness. It had been his hacking skills that had put him on the stand with a crucial piece of evidence against the criminal. 

What she couldn't understand is why Preventer Dragon would be interested in TKRose, or why TKRose would be interested in tailing Preventer business. 

Arctic Wind sighed and called up her transmission account, and transcribed a quick message to Dragon. It read: 

Dragon,

I checked the databases for anyone named TKRose, and came up with the information in the attached files. Don't worry about the top getting angry, it's public record to those of us in Quietus. I hope this information becomes useful to you, and good luck in your own search. Signed, Arctic Wind. 

When the message was sent, she shut down Chronosphere and jumped out of the cockpit. Leading a double life was not an easy thing to do, but she was actually getting pretty good at it. She longed, however, for the day when she'd finally be able to reveal her secret, and leave this miserable little planet. She may have been born here, but she wanted nothing more than to see Earth, where the aunt and cousin she'd never met lived. 

There was a sound behind her, and she tensed suddenly as the blade of a thermal energy weapon was pressed up against her throat. 

"Let me into the main base," a slightly muffled voice hissed behind her. "Do it quietly, or you die."  


	45. Love Doesn't Ask Why

**Gundam MegaWing: After Colony 225**

**Chapter Forty-Five: Love Doesn't Ask Why**

Arctic Wind entered the security codes that led out of the hanger and into the main base, the thermal blade still pressed up against her throat. She couldn't see the face of her captor, but there was something about his voice that made her stop and think about how to handle the situation. Something was strange about this. 

"If you want me to finish, I need to swipe my security card," she said. There was no response from her captor. Frowning slightly and narrowing her eyes behind her mask, she reached for her back pocket. 

He reacted swiftly, grabbing her wrist and holding it in an iron-tight grip. She turned her head just enough for her to catch a small glimpse of his face. "My security card is in my back pocket," she said. 

He paused, then released her a little uncertainly. She pulled out the card and swiped it, and then the door opened. He pushed her through. 

She reacted swiftly, tucking one leg around his and pulling him forward. The thermal blade pulled away from her neck, and she grabbed his wrist with her hand and twisted, forcing him to drop it. In an instant, she hit the security codes and slammed the door shut both behind and in front of them, entrapping them the airlock. Then she turned to look at her captor. 

He was leaning against the opposite wall, holding his injured wrist gingerly. His thermal blade - a scythe - was lying on the ground. The blade flickered and went out as he looked up at her. His eyes were covered by a pair of wraparound sunglasses, but there was something familiar about him - something that she couldn't quite place. She noticed that his blue hair was trimmed rather raggedly – it came down to about his chin, and the ends were uneven, as if he'd cut them himself and hadn't really paid much attention. She also noticed that the hair, while wavy on top, and perfectly straight on the bottom. It reminded her of a girl she'd known when she was younger, who always wore her hair in a braid. It'd gotten so long that the weight had pulled her hair straight, so that a similar effect was achieved when she'd gotten it cut. 

In a flash, she knew where she'd seen the boy before. But she couldn't quite believe that it was him. 

"Noir?" she whispered, eyes wide. "Noir Date?" 

The boy stepped back, frowning slightly. Then, slowly, he reached up and pulled off his sunglasses, revealing a pair of bright violet eyes. "Who are you?" he asked, forming his words deliberately. Again, she noticed the strange, muffled voice. 

"Don't you remember?" Arctic Wind asked, a tinge of excitement forming in her voice. "It was a few years ago – I helped you break out of the science area. You were being kept there by the Quietus scientists for some reason or another, and I found you one night. You could barely speak, but you managed to ask for my help, so I got you out and put you on the first transport off of Mars. You had a braid then, though."

Noir frowned again and touched the ragged edges of his hair. "I'm sorry," he said slowly. "Could you repeat that? And go slower, please. I only caught the part about the braid." 

Now it was Arctic Wind's turn to be puzzled, but she did as he asked. When she finished repeating what  she had said, his violet eyes lit up. "Cynthia?" 

She laughed. "Yes! Cynthia! I forgot that I'd told you my real name. How are you?"

He shrugged. "Okay. You're wearing a mask." 

She touched the silver mask around the upper part of her face. "It's sort of a family thing," she said, shrugging. She bit her lip, then reached up and removed the mask, letting her white-blonde hair fall free. "Better?"

He nodded. "You're still pretty." 

She blushed slightly, remembering the half-murmured statement that he'd made when she'd helped him into the transport. "What are you doing back here?"

Noir glanced around, making sure that there were no cameras in the airlock. Then he returned his gaze to her face. "I…I can't tell you."

She stepped forward and put her hand on his shoulder. "Noir, "she said softly. "You can tell me. See, I don't work for Quietus." She reached into her back pocket again and pulled out a second ID, one she rarely took out. She flashed it in front of him. "I'm a Neo-OZ agent, on loan to the Preventers and working undercover in Quietus. I have since I was thirteen. I was only here a few months when I discovered you. I couldn't tell you who I was then because I couldn't risk blowing my cover." 

He reached out and touched the ID card hesitantly. "Cynthia Marquise," he read. "Neo-OZ Special Forces. Pilot." He narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. "Neo-OZ makes the Neo-Gundams." 

"That's right," Cynthia said, nodding. "I pilot Chronosphere. That's why I was out in the hanger." Then she paused. "How did you know about Chronosphere?"

"A long story," Noir replied. "If you're undercover, you must know the layout of this base fairly well. I need to get to the laboratories. There are a few things that I need to take care of here." 

"You mean you aren't here to destroy this place?" she joked. Noir's eyes widened. "It's a joke." 

He bit his lip, and shrugged. "Sorry," he said. "I couldn't tell." 

"You couldn't…" Suddenly her eyes widened. All at once everything fell into place - the muffled speech, the way he was focusing on her face, his request that she slow down. "You're deaf, aren't you?" 

Noir growled angrily, a deep, harsh sound in his throat. "Since I was created. And I recently came into the information that it could have been prevented. That's why I returned - I need to know more about myself. And this is the best place to discover that information." 

Cynthia looked slightly perplexed. "Okay," she said slowly. "I'm not sure if I completely understand but…if you need to get to the laboratories, I can help you there." 

"Really?" He smiled at her, a small, uncertain smile. 

"Really," she said, nodding. "With my security access, we'll have no problem getting through." She replaced her mask and made sure it was secure. "Let's go."

He grabbed her arm and stopped her. Then he brought his hands up to his mouth and lowered them. "Thank you, Cynthia," he said. 

"When we're around others, it's Arctic Wind," she replied. Then she smiled. "But any other time, call me Cindy." 

There was a light tap on his shoulder, and Kenji turned away from the window to see his father settle into the seat next to him. "Hey, Pops," he said, flashing him a grin. 

Tobias Lowe grinned back, and it was in those expressions that the family resemblance could be seen. "I know we haven't had much of a chance to catch up," Tobias said. "You've been pretty busy." 

Kenji shrugged. "Just making sure that MegaWing gets put back together properly. I'm glad that Aunt Relena is paying for the transport to Lake Victoria, though - I wouldn't have wanted to shell out that kind of money, and I haven't been with Neo-OZ long enough for them to pay for it."

"I see." Tobias clutched the armrest of the chair and stared at the back of the seat in front of him. The plane, Relena's own personal jet, was nearly empty. Only Une, Rasheed, Relena, Hilde, and the two Lowes were on it, aside from the flight crew. But they were fairly discreet. "Kenji, can I just ask you one question?"

"Shoot." 

"Why?" Tobias looked at his son quizzically. "Why did you feel like you had to do this? Run away, become a gundam pilot – I thought Odin and I had told you enough stories about when we were younger to make you get over wanting to be a pilot." 

"You did," Kenji said softly. "Pops, there are precisely eight active mobile suit pilots in existence right now - myself, Quatre, Trente, Isaac, the pilots of Lotus and Atlantica, Preventer Arctic Wind, and the mysterious Shinigami pilot that Lady Une mentioned. When I was younger, I did give up the idea of being a pilot because I thought that there were no more pilots. 

"When I stumbled across Neo-OZ, I saw a chance to make my childhood dream come true. I was sick of being the son of Duo Maxwell and Heero Yuy, even if I was the only one who knew it. I wanted to make a name for myself where no one knew who I was." Kenji shook his head. "But now my cover's been blown, and I'm probably gong to get chewed out for lying. The only consolation is that Trente survived my biggest mistake yet - crashing MegaWing into Heatseeker." 

"That wasn't your fault," Tobias said immediately. "I saw the flight simulation that got pulled from your suits computers - you couldn't have prevented the accident. And according to Lady Une, Heatseeker is almost completely restored." 

Kenji smiled wryly. "That ought to make Trente happy." 

Tobias eyed his son. "It seems that every time you start a conversation with someone, Trente's name shows up. How well do you know this guy, anyway?"

Kenji ducked his head and shrugged. "Um…I guess I know him the best out of the everyone, even though I met him at the same as most of the others I know in Neo-OZ. We sort of bonded while on the resource satellite when our suits were being refueled."

Tobias smirked impishly. "'Bonding', hmm? Is that what they call it nowadays?"

Kenji's face turned bright red, and he stared at his father, aghast. "_Pops!" he exclaimed. "What are – I mean – I don't – I'm not – how did – oh, I give up!" _

"Gee, Kenji, I'm surprised at you," Tobias said dryly. "You do happen to know that I'm married to the Perfect Soldier himself, don't you? I figure if I can see the signs of interest in _him, then I can see them in __you. To be perfectly honest, I've known you were gay since puberty. I'm your father, I'm supposed to know these things. I was beginning to think that __you didn't know." _

Kenji had grabbed one of the pillows tucked beside his seat and covered his head with it. "Thanks, Pops," he said, his voice muffled from the thick fabric. 

Tobias picked the pillow up and removed it from his son's head. "So…anything you want to talk about? I figure I'm a pretty good person to give advice about this sort of thing. Now, if you were interested in _girls, then I think coming to me might not be the best thing. You'd have to go to Odin for that – he attracted enough of them when he was younger."_

Something smacked him on the back of the head, and Tobias looked over his shoulder. "Oh, hi, Relena," he said. 

"I just wanted to let you know that the entire plane can hear your conversation," Relena said. "So watch what you say."

Kenji paled. "The…whole…plane?"

"Yes, all half dozen of us," Relena replied. "And before you say anything, Kenji…I knew." 

Kenji groaned and leaned back in his seat. "And here I thought I was being subtle." 

"It's just because we've seen you grow up," Relena replied. "Hilde knew, too. Rasheed and Anne didn't have a clue, but they do now." She smiled. "So…you want me to tell Katrina next time I see her?"

Kenji growled at the mention of Relena's daughter, who had had as unhealthy a crush on Kenji since they were little kids as Relena had had on Heero when they were younger. Kenji had done absolutely nothing to encourage her interest, but she didn't get the hint. "It wouldn't help," he muttered. "I think she has selective hearing. She'd somehow manage to twist it into me saying that she's pretty or something." 

Relena laughed. She knew all about her daughter's shortcomings – Katrina had picked them up from her father, whom she lived with full-time. "Well, I better get back to the rest of the group."

Tobias waved her good-bye, then looked at Kenji. "Are you okay?" he asked, noticing the stoic look on Kenji's face. 

"I'm just thinking," replied Kenji. "Pops…could I have some alone time, please?" 

Tobias nodded. "I'll be on the other side of the plane."

"Thanks."

_Love doesn't ask why_

_It speaks from the heart_

_And never explains_

Kenji leaned back in his seat and looked out the plane window. The clouds were tinged pink outside from the sunset, and he knew it wouldn't be long before they reached Lake Victoria. And somehow, he needed to figure out his feelings before then. 

_Don't you know that love_

_Doesn't think twice_

_It can come all at once_

_Or whisper from a distance_

He twisted a lock of hair around his finger and sighed. He had to admit that the first time he'd run into the dark-blonde pilot, he'd felt an instant attraction. Not just physical, either – there was something about Trente that had affected him emotionally as well. He'd known in an instant that at the very least, he wanted to get to know the older boy as a friend. And the more he found out, the more he was intrigued. 

_Great, thought Kenji miserably. __I'm falling for someone who probably isn't the least be interested. Just my luck._

_Don't as me if this feeling's right or wrong_

_It doesn't have to make much sense_

_It just has to be this strong_

Quatre lay in the hospital room at Lake Victoria, pale and silent. He was hooked up to several machines, each measuring some aspect of his health. Bandages covered many parts of his body, mostly the arms, legs, and torso. And still Triton thought he looked breathtakingly beautiful. 

Triton sat in the chair next to the bed, where he'd been since they'd arrived at the base, and he hadn't taken his eyes off of Quatre's still form once. Seeing the smaller man again had been like a splash of cold water on his face, and knowing that truth – finally knowing the truth – just made Trowa feel like a huge idiot. 

_'Cause when you're in my arms I understand_

_We don't have a voice_

_When our hearts make the choices_

"_He's ours, Trowa. Yours and mine." _

He and Quatre had a son. They had created another human being – something that should've been physically impossible if not for the help of science. And it had taken him seventeen years to find out. Triton shook his head ruefully. He didn't blame Quatre one bit for smacking him - he felt like smacking himself, truthfully. 

Hesitantly, Triton reached out and grasped the pale hand lying on the bedsheet. "I'm sorry," he whispered, his voice thick. "Please, Quatre…you have to survive this. You have to wake up. Because…I…" He reached up and swiped away a tear that was beginning to form at his good eye. "Please, _mon ange. My angel. I'm sorry." _

_There's no plan_

_It's not in our hands_

Triton gripped his hand tightly. "I love you," he whispered. 

Behind him, there was the sound of someone clearing their throat. Triton looked up to see Trente standing there, looking slightly uncomfortable. His breath caught in his throat at the sight of his son…but he didn't let go of Quatre's hand. "Yes?" he asked.

"The plane from the Sanq Kingdom is almost here," Trente said. "Dorothy wanted me to tell you. She said that an old friend is on it."

Triton wondered briefly who it could be, then looked back at Quatre. "Tell her…I'm busy. If he or she wants to talk to me later, they can come here. But I'm not leaving."

Trente nodded and turned to leave, then paused. "Mr. Bloom?"

"Yes?" 

Trente bit his lip. "Good luck." 

Triton closed his eyes and nodded. "Thank you."

_Love doesn't ask why_

_It speaks from the heart_

_And never explains_

Trente nearly plowed into Dorothy when he stepped out of the building near the airfield. "Sorry," he said. He looked up at the sky and saw a fast-approaching plane. "Is that them? It's a big plane."

"It's carrying MegaWing," replied Dorothy. "Yes, that's them." She eyed him. "What are you so excited about?"

Trente shrugged. "I've been worrying about Kenji ever since our accident – it'll be good to see him and know that he's okay." 

Dorothy nodded. "However, there are a few things that need to be straightened out with him."

"Oh?" Trente asked. "Did he do something wrong?"

Dorothy shook her head as the plane touched down. "Not really – we just need to ask him a few questions." 

_Don't you know that love doesn't think twice_

_It can come all at once_

_Or whisper from a distance_

The plane touched down, and when the doors opened Trente was surprised to see that first person off was the Foreign Minister herself. "I didn't know Relena Dorilan was coming," he mentioned to Dorothy, but Dorothy was already moving forward to great her old friend. 

Trente watched as a tall woman who he knew had to be Lady Une and a short dark-haired woman came off next and also exchanged greetings with Dorothy. Then a tall burly man stepped out of the plane, and Trente was running forward out of sheer surprise. "Rasheed!" he shouted, waving to his old bodyguard. 

Rasheed's eyes lit up, and he lifted the teenager into a huge bear hug. "Master Trente!" he exclaimed as he set him back down on the ground. "You've grown so tall!" 

Trente shrugged modestly. "Well…but what are you doing here, Rasheed?"

"I work for Minister Dorilan," Rasheed replied. 

Trente was about to ask why, when someone standing behind Rasheed caught his attention. He stepped away from the Arabian and walked a few steps forward, then stopped. "Hi, Kenji."

Kenji managed a shaky smile. "Hey," he said. "You're okay."

Trente nodded. "So are you." 

There was one more person in the group, a tall thin man with long brown hair and eyes that reminded him of Kenji's. _Are they related? thought Trente. He saw the man nudge Kenji slightly. "Um, Trente?"_

"Yeah?" 

"Can we talk? Alone, I mean?"

Trente frowned slightly, unsure and not knowing why Kenji would want to. "Sure, I guess. The barracks aren't far from here - and I think we're supposed to be sharing a room, anyway." 

_Now I can feel what you're afraid to say_

_If you give your soul to me_

_Will you give too much away?_

Triton was nearing exhaustion, although it was more emotional exhaustion than physical. As far as he could tell, there had been absolutely no change in Quatre's condition, but he wasn't a doctor, so he couldn't be sure. All he could do was sit there and talk quietly to him, and hope that if he could hear his words, it wouldn't push him further into not waking up. 

"I'm such a fool," he said thickly. "I should've talked to you, after Claire showed me the records. I shouldn't have automatically assumed the worst. It was wrong of me, Quatre, and I make no excuses. Just please…_please…wake up, Quatre. Wake up. Because if you don't, I don't think I'm ever going to be able to forgive myself."_

He was distraught and struggling not to break down that he almost missed the slight pressure coming from Quatre's hand. 

_But we can't let this moment pass us by_

_Can't question this chance_

_Or expect any answers_

Triton looked at Quatre's face, barely daring to hope – but there it was. Quatre's eyes were open, and although they were slightly unfocused, they were clearly looking in his direction, responding to his voice. "Quatre?" he whispered, his voice tremulous. 

Quatre managed a weak smile. "You're an…idiot," he whispered hoarsely, but the smile took the edge of his words. 

Triton couldn't help it. He laughed. "I know," he agreed, grinning. "I know I am." 

"I…could hear…you," Quatre managed to say. "And…I'm still…mad…at you." 

Tears sprung up in Triton's eyes. "I should go get the doctor," he managed to say. 

Quatre tightened his grip on Triton's hand. "We'll…talk…later," he promised. "But…stay. Stay, Trowa?" His eyes were focused now, and Triton couldn't help but compare them to the innocent look Quatre used to hold when they were younger. When he had said his name with that same tone, the first time they were together. 

"I'll stay," Trowa promised softly, and Triton Bloom was gone forever. 

_We can try_

_But love doesn't ask why_

_So let's take what we found_

_And warp it around us_

"What is it that you wanted to talk about?" Trente asked as he stepped into the room he and Kenji were going to be sharing. He reached out to find the lightswitch, but when he turned it on, only a small bit of light lit up the room. "I'll have to change the bulb," he muttered looking at the overheard light. 

Kenji closed the door behind them softly and Trente turned to look at him. He stood there, in the middle of the room, looking everywhere but at Trente himself. "Kenji?" Trente asked uncertainly. "Is something wrong? If you're going to chew me out for the accident, then go ahead, but…come on, Kenji. Say something." Kenji's uncharacteristic silence was beginning to unnerve Trente. 

_Love doesn't ask why_

_It speaks from the heart_

_And never explains_

Kenji shifted uneasily from one foot to another. "I'm not going to yell at you," he said, shaking his head. "It's just…look, Trente. I…well, when I first met you, I knew we're going to be…going to be friends. I mean, it just kind of clicked. And…it was a little…scary. I'd never had a friend before." 

Trente looked at Kenji. "I see," he said softly. "Actually, I never have, either. I mean, there was Isaac, but…we never really clicked. I could never really open up to him. Not like I did to you."

Kenji nodded slightly. "But…there's more. Trente, when…when the accident happened…I thought…well, you probably know that I thought." He ran a hand through his chocolate brown bangs and took a deep breath. "And when I found out that you were…that you were okay…I…damn it." 

"What?" 

_Now I know that love doesn't think twice_

_It can come all at once_

_Or whisper from a distance_

Kenji shook his head ruefully. "Pops said this was the easy part," he muttered, more to himself than to Trente. 

Trente was utterly confused. "Kenji, what are you --?" 

He was cut off abruptly as Kenji took two steps forward, grabbed his head between his hands, and pulled him down for a long, hard kiss. 

_Love doesn't ask why_


	46. The Past is Cleared

**Gundam MegaWing: After Colony 225**

**Chapter Forty-Six: The Past is Cleared**

Trente's mind went blank as he felt Kenji's lips press against his. The kiss had come completely out of left field, and all he could do was stand there. He didn't react, didn't do anything to discourage or encourage the kiss. 

When Kenji pulled away from him, though, Trente felt the sudden loss of the warm mouth, and immediately moved forward to claim it again. Kenji eagerly responded, moving his hands from Trente's face to wrap them around his neck. Hesitantly, Trente moved his own arms around Kenji's waist, and pulled him closer, slanting his mouth for better access to Kenji's. 

The two boys stood there, lost in their embrace, joined at the mouth and thinking only about that moment. Kenji pressed up against Trente and pushed him back against the wall, deepening the kiss as he did so. Trente tightened his arms around Kenji's waist, running one hand up his back to tangle his fingers in his hair. 

Kenji broke the kiss suddenly, but before Trente could move to restart it again, he was already placing soft kisses along the side of Trente's neck, towards the collarbone exposed by his uniform shirt. Trente leaned his head back until it connected with the wall and panted softly. 

Kenji reached for the buttons on Trente's jacket, and one of them lightly scratched Trente's skin, just enough for it to give a sharp prick of pain.

Trente's eyes snapped open, and with a startled gasp, he pulled away from Kenji and stumbled to the other side of the room.

Kenji stood there, clothes and hair disheveled, lips puffy from hard kisses, confusion lighting in his eyes. 

"Allah," whispered Trente, shaking, staring at Kenji with wide eyes. _What have I…what have I done?!_

Kenji took a slight step forward. "Trente…?"

Trente choked back a gasp, spun around to yank the door open, and tore out of the room.

Kenji stared after him, frozen in shock. _That did not just happen, Kenji thought. __He did not just do that. Not after…what…oh, god! Kenji stumbled back and sat on the edge of the bed. He brought his hand up to his lips and blinked, noticing that his eyes had suddenly fogged up. There was a dampness on his cheeks. Why…?_

He touched his face. He was crying.

_Boys…boys don't…they don't cry… _

Kenji let out a choked sob and let the tears fall.

"Trowa?" 

Trowa looked up to see that Quatre was awake again, and looking at him with slight confusion. "Kombanwa, Quatre," Trowa said softly, smiling slightly at the blonde.  

Quatre looked at him uncertainly. "What are – what are you doing here?" he asked tensely. 

_Doesn't he remember earlier? Trowa wondered, and he tensed himself. "You asked me to stay," he said slowly, "when you woke up earlier."_

Quatre blinked, then narrowed his eyes. "I know," he said, to Trowa's relief. "But I wasn't really expecting you to stay."

"You said we had to talk," Trowa reminded him. 

Quatre nodded slowly. "Yes…there were a few things that I heard…I wanted to…" He glanced over Trowa's shoulder at that moment, and his eyes widened. "What the…?!" 

"Well, well, well, look what we've got here!" a cheerful voice said from behind Trowa. The tall acrobat spun around and stared at the intruder. 

A welcome intruder, though. 

"Duo!" Quatre exclaimed, sitting up suddenly. His hand flew to his forehead, and he winced. "Owww." 

Trowa jumped up and guided Quatre back into a lying down position. "You haven't completely recovered yet," Trowa admonished him.

"Gomen," Tobias apologized as he stepped into the room. He cocked his head and looked at the twosome, a little confused. "Hmm…I heard somewhere that you two had separated. Was that just a rumor to get the press off your backs?"

Trowa and Quatre shook their heads, glanced at each other, then looked away. "It's a long story," Trowa said. "One where we're not even sure of the details."

Tobias arched an eyebrow, but shrugged and pulled up another chair. "I have to admit, I was more than a little offended when the plane pulled in and neither of you were there to greet me – but I understand now. You look pretty beat up, Cat." 

Quatre touched one of the bandages on his cheek and winced. "It's really not that bad," he said, shrugging. "How are you, Duo? And what are you doing here?"

"It's Tobias, now," Tobias said. "I went back to my real name, remember?" 

"Of course," Quatre said graciously. Trowa nodded, showing that he'd noted the name change. 

"As for how I am, I'm great!" Tobias said, grinning. He flipped his ponytail over his shoulder and twisted the end around his hand. "Odin and I opened an orphanage in L1 several years ago, and we're doing very well. Aside from Odin's accident, that is." 

"Accident?" Trowa asked questionably. "And, just to make sure – Odin is Heero, yes?"

"Right," Tobias said, nodding. "Hey, if it makes you two too uncomfortable with Tobias and Odin, I don't mind if you call us by our old names. Just in private, though, okay?" 

"Thanks," Quatre said. "In my state, I don't know if I could remember, anyway. But what accident?"

"There was a car accident, a couple of years ago," Tobias said softly. "Odin was badly injured, and he was in a wheelchair for several months. He had finally made it to leg braces when our son ran away. He had a relapse after that, but he's been making progress again. Slowly, but it's been happening. And Relena-sama has been helping us with money for medical treatments." 

"Heero's in a wheelchair?" Quatre asked, astonished. 

Tobias shrugged. "Surprise, surprise. I guess he's not as invincible as we thought. Not that it bothers me - I'm just glad to have him alive."

Trowa tapped the bed thoughtfully. "You have a son?"

Tobias nodded. "He's fifteen…going to be sixteen, soon. We got the idea from the two of you, actually."

Trowa paled and looked at Quatre. Quatre was staring at the wall over Tobias' head. After a few minutes of pointed glare, he looked at Trowa defensively. "I had to tell _someone!" he snapped. "You were gone by then!" _

Tobias let out a low whistle. "Oh, I see. Cat, you never told me that Trowa left because of _him. His name is Trente, right?"_

Quatre blinked. "How did you know?"

Tobias shrugged. "I've seen him on the news a few times - as your ward. And then Kenji managed to drop his name into every conversation enough that I think I was the only one not surprised when Une told Hilde, Relena, Rasheed, myself, and Kenji that Trente was your son." 

"Une has a big mouth," Quatre fumed. Then he looked closely at Tobias. "You know Kenji?"

"And you claim to be so smart," Tobias muttered. "I told you I had a son, didn't I?"

Quatre shot up again, this time not caring about the sudden dizziness that hit him. "Kenji is _your son?!" he exclaimed. _

"Damn straight," Tobias said, grinning. "He probably would've told you himself, but he has this hang up about not wanting people to know that he's the biological child of Heero Yuy and Duo Maxwell. I'm surprised you didn't put the last names together."

Quatre groaned. "I _thought there was something familiar about him! And the Zero System didn't even tip me off!" _

Trowa sighed. "Sounds like there are quite a few things that need to be cleared up."

"I think Une wants to call a meeting as soon as Quatre here feels like he can walk," said Tobias. 

"Is Dorothy here?" Quatre asked. 

"She was the one who picked us up," Trowa told him. He looked at Tobias. "So, when do I get to meet this son of yours?"

Tobias looked thoughtful. "He had something to tell Trente – I'd tell you, but I wouldn't betray his confidence. Trente'll probably mention it to you two, anyway."

"He thinks I'm unconscious," Quatre said. "Besides, Trente doesn't really open up to me."

"And he barely knows me," Trowa added. 

Tobias blinked. "Why not? You're his parents." 

"What?" a strangled whisper filled the room.

Quatre, Trowa, and Tobias looked sharply in the direction of gasp, and Quatre felt his heart nearly stop. Trente stood in the doorway, pale and breathing heavily. He stared at Quatre with wide eyes. "What did you just say?" he whispered. 

Quatre stared at him, then drew in a deep breath. "Trente…I…"

"It can't be," Trente said, stepping back and shaking his head. "No…it can't…" 

Trowa stood up. "Trente," he said softly, "please. It's true. Quatre and I…are your biological parents." 

Trente stood there, staring at both of them, shaking. Then, with a choked sob, he spun around and dashed down the hallway. There was the sound of a slamming door, and then silence.

Tobias looked at Trowa and Quatre. "Uh, oh," he said. "He didn't know?"

Quatre shook his head dismally. "I thought…I thought it would be better." Then he swung his legs over the side of the bed. "I have to go talk to him."

"I'll do it," Trowa said immediately. "You're not strong enough."

"I'll lean on you," Quatre insisted, already getting to his feet. "I feel fine. Do either of you know where his room is in the barracks?"

"I'm sure we'll find it," Tobias said as he watched Trowa sign in resignation and help support Quatre. _Seems he still can't deny Quatre anything, Tobias thought with affection. _

But when they reached the barracks, they were greeted not with the sight of a distraught Trente, but a sobbing Kenji.

"Kenji!" Tobias dashed forward and knelt on the floor next to his son. "What happened?"

Kenji hurriedly wiped as his eyes, brushing away the tears, but they were still red from crying when he looked up at his father. "Pops," he said with a shuddering breath, "Trente…he… we were…then…" 

Quatre limped forward and cleared his throat. "Kenji."

Kenji looked up, and gulped. "Commander," he said.

"Get a hold of yourself," Quatre commanded. "Then tell us what happened." 

Kenji nodded and drew in several deep breaths before he was composed enough to speak clearly. "I asked Trente if I could talk to him, and he told me we could talk here. Then…everything was going okay, until…suddenly he looked like here was the last place he wanted to be, and took off without any warning." 

"What. Happened?" Quatre asked slowly and deliberating, and Trowa looked at him in surprise. This was the Quatre he hadn't seen before, the commander of Neo-OZ.

Kenji just shook his head. 

Tobias sighed and put an arm around his son's shoulders. "You told him, didn't you?"

Kenji nodded. 

Tobias looked at Quatre. "It seems that Kenji here has had a crush on Trente for quite some time," he said. "And it seems that Trente knows, now."  

Comprehension dawned on Quatre's face, and he groaned. It was filled with so much pain that for a minute, Trowa thought that he'd hurt himself again. But then Quatre spun around and slammed his fist into the wall. "Kenji, you _idiot!" _

Kenji jumped at the accusation. "What --?"

"Wait a second, Quatre," Tobias said, a spark of anger rising at Quatre's accusing tone. "It's not exactly Kenji's fault. How was he supposed to know how Trente would react?"

"It's not that," Quatre growled. "The thing is, Trente had admittedly been bisexual since he began to notice the difference between males and females. But the poor kid had been extremely confused and uncertain about it. He doesn't have any problem liking girls - the problem is the other end of the spectrum. He's got the idea in his head that it's wrong and immoral and all that crap." 

"With you as his guardian?" Trowa arched an eyebrow skeptically. "How did he get that idea?" 

"Claire," Tobias snarled. 

_Of course, Trowa thought the minute the name was said. __Claire Allayah Winner, older than Quatre, and the biggest homophobe in the galaxy. "You let __Claire near Trente?" he demanded. _

Quatre growled softly. "I didn't do it on purpose," he snapped. "But Claire…she runs the school that Trente goes to. In order to keep up the facade of Trente's origins, I needed to enroll him in the Winner Academy…and that meant Claire. When I found out what she was telling Trente, I confronted her…and then…"

"What?" Tobias demanded.

Quatre groaned and sat down on the second bed in the room, opposite Kenji. "She threatened me," he said. "Said she'd expose the Winner Corporation for what it now was – a front for Neo-OZ. She also said that she knew the locations of…" Suddenly Quatre froze. "By Allah," he whispered. 

"What?" Kenji, Tobias, and Trowa asked.

Quatre stood up suddenly and almost had to sit down again, but he managed to get his bearings. "I have to go find Une. The rest of you – could you please go find Trente?"

"Quatre, I think you –" Tobias cut himself off when he saw the look on Quatre's face. 

"Duo…actually, I need you to do something else, instead," Quatre said. "While Kenji and Trowa looked for Trente, I need you to call Heero." 

"And tell him what?" Tobias demanded. "He doesn't even know where I am."

"Tell him to get off of L1," Quatre said. "If my suspicions are correct, then he could be in grave danger. See, Claire – she threatened me. And she told me that she knew the locations of each of the Gundam pilots." 

Trowa, Kenji, and Tobias stared at him, the implication of those words sinking in. "Quietus," Kenji said, his voice trembling. "They knew…" Suddenly he gasped. "Quatre…on the resource satellite…the one that exploded…"

"Yes?" 

"Somebody rigged it to explode!" Kenji exclaimed. "And Zoey…right before she got me and Trente out, she said something about '_That bitch. I didn't expect her to pull something like this when there were two Gundam pilots here.' And then she told Trente to find out everything he could about his parents…but we had that accident after that, and I think Trente forgot." _

"Damn it," Quatre growled. "Duo, called Heero. Tell him to get his ass to Lake Victoria immediately. Trowa, Kenji, find Trente. Check Heatseeker, check the training center, check anywhere there's a cat, just _find him. I'll go find Lady Une. I think I've finally figured out who's been tipping off Quietus." _

"Claire?" Tobias asked. "But why would she…?"

"Stupid question," Trowa said as he moved towards the door. "This is Claire. She's hated Quatre from the beginning - does she need a reason?" 

"But if she's part of Quietus, why haven't they attacked us all-out?" Kenji asked as he followed Trowa out the door, leaving Quatre and Tobias behind. 

"Because she's smart," Trowa replied. "She knows better than to give away all of her secrets - otherwise they won't have a use for her. It's survival."  

Trowa took a sharp turn and grabbed a door, pulling it open and stepping into a large gymnasium. It was nearly deserted, most of the Preventers on the base either working, sleeping or eating. The few that were there said, when questioned, that they hadn't seen any sign of the young Heatseeker pilot. "Is something wrong?" a petite, red-haired woman asked with concern. 

It took Trowa a moment to recognize her. "Actually, we need to find him, Mariemeia," he told Trieze's daughter. "It's pretty urgent." 

Kenji looked at her pleadingly. "Please," he said. "Are you _sure he didn't come this way?"_

"Well, my God. Trowa Barton?"

Trowa turned to see a tall Chinese woman with long brown hair coming towards them. His eyes widened. "Sally Po?" he asked hesitantly.

Sally's face broke into a wide grin, and she hugged the taller man tightly. "I heard you'd been brought it!" she exclaimed. Then she looked closely at his face. "Interesting eyepatch." 

"Circus accident," Trowa said by way of explanation. "We're looking for Trente Nanashi. He got an unexpected surprise earlier, and I'm afraid he's not taking it well."

"The pilot of Heatseeker?" Sally asked. "I think I saw him heading for the hanger not too long ago. I wasn't paying much attention, but I think he was upset." She eyed Trowa, and then glanced at Kenji. "You're his father, aren't you?"

Kenji rolled his eyes. "Is it obvious to _everyone who knows Quatre and Trowa?" he demanded. _

Sally smirked. "Pretty much. From the pictures I've seen, Trente _does bear a resemblance to both of them. If you want to find him, try Heatseeker. Hanger 3." _

"Thanks, Sally," Trowa said. "Oh, and Une's probably going to be calling a meeting soon. We'll be there as soon as we get things cleared up with Trente." He and Kenji thanked Mariemeia as well, and took off for the hanger. 

"Hey, wait!" They paused. Sally was looking at Kenji quizzically. "Who are you?"

Kenji bowed slightly. "Kenji Lowe, ma'am," he said. 

"He's Duo and Heero's son," explained Trowa. Not noticing Sally's stunned expression, he grabbed Kenji's arm. "Let's go." 

Mariemeia looked at Sally, who was staring after them. "Sally?" she asked.

Sally smiled slightly. "So _that's who Kenji Lowe is," she said. "Well, that's certainly a relief." _

Trente wasn't sure _where he had been trying to go, but when he ran into the hanger and saw Heatseeker, nearly complete, he knew that this was where he wanted to be. There were no technicians around, so he wasted no time in opening up the cockpit and entered the little room off of it. He sat down on the cot and stretched out to stare up at the ceiling. _

"Heatseeker," he murmured in Arabic, even though he knew the Neo-Gundam could answer him. "My life has fallen to pieces." 

He couldn't believe that in the last three hours, his life had just completely turned upside down. He'd entered that room expecting a conversation with Kenji about the accident, and had ended up locked in an embrace with the boy he considered his closest friend. _What am I supposed to do about that now? he thought miserably. He couldn't deny that he'd enjoyed…but…there was no chance at all for anything to come of it…_

_And then there's…there's…He rolled over and slammed his fist into his pillow angrily. "K'SO!" he cried, tears running down his face. "DAMN IT! DAMN YOU, QAUTRE! YOU DIDN'T TELL ME! YOU __DIDN'T TELL ME!"  _

In a fit of clouded anger, he grabbed the closest thing he could and hurled it out into the cockpit. It hit the ground with a clatter, and Trente curled up with his pillow and sobbed into the fabric. "Damn it," he whispered, his voice choked. "Damn it." 

He wasn't sure how much time had passed when suddenly there was a knock on the wall that led into the cockpit. He looked up…and froze at the emerald green gaze that looked at him. 

"Hi," Trowa said softly. "I heard you were here." 

"What do you want?" Trente asked coldly. 

"To talk," Trowa replied. "I know that you're probably extremely angry with Quatre and I…" 

"Don't mention his name to me!" Trente shouted. "That liar! He told me that my parents were dead, that I was a distant cousin of his! Do you know how many times I'd wished that he were my father instead of just my guardian? That I really was a Winner? Do you know what I've had to endure because everyone thought I was an orphan, that I was taken in by charity? Do you? _Do you?"_

To his surprise, Trowa didn't snap at him for talking so disrespectfully. And that made Trente, to his chagrin, respect the older pilot even more than he already had. "Let me tell you a story, Trente. You might find a few parallels to yourself in it."

Trente leaned against the wall and gazed at him stonily. Trowa took this to mean that he agreed to listen. 

"There once was a little boy who lived in a mercenary camp," Trowa began. "He didn't know who his parents were, where he'd come from, or why he was there. All he knew was that he was there for one purpose – the sole amusement and entertainment of the soldiers. He grew up on the battlefield, learned to pilot a mobile suit, and learned not to make mistakes around the soldiers. If he did, he was punished." 

"Punished how?" Trente asked. 

Trowa looked at him, unblinkingly. "Mercenaries…they're not the nicest people in the world." Trente caught the hidden meaning, and bit his lip. 

"The boy, who had no name, had exactly two friends during his time with the mercenaries - a young spy named Midii, and a soldier called Ralph. These friendships were short-lived, but Nanashi cherished them. They were the only ones he'd ever had. 

"After several years with the mercenaries, Nanashi was already to escape to the colonies. There, he found himself a job working for the Barton Foundation. He became a mechanics assistant for a Mobile Suit that everyone kept top secret - a suit called Heavyarms." 

Trente's eyes widened. 

"While he was working on Heavyarms late one night, Nanashi overheard an argument between the scientist in charge of Heavyarms' construction, the chief engineer, and the chosen pilot of the Mobile Suit, Trowa Barton. During this argument, Barton insisted that the details of Operation Meteor should not change from the original schematics, and the chief engineer shot him dead. 

"Nanashi was the only witness aside from the scientist, Doktor S, and the engineer. Rather than hide and use it to his advantage, he revealed himself, and told the two men that he didn't care if they killed him for his knowledge. He said, however, that he felt like his place was better served on the battleground, although he had no interest in piloting any other suit – except Heavyarms, which he had grown quite attached to. When asked his name by S, Nanashi stated that he had no name…although he wouldn't mind taking the name of the dead man lying on the ground. 

"From that moment on, Nanashi became Trowa Barton, pilot of Heavyarms, and the person in charge of Operation Meteor – which, thanks to the five scientists who built the Gundams, soon became an all-out attack on OZ, and not one on Earth." Trowa fell silent for a moment, lost in thought. Trente didn't say anything. He knew there was more. 

"The newly reborn Trowa never considered himself, for one second, as the leader of the Gundams. Quatre fitted that job much better, and so Trowa became just one of the pilots. Except that he wasn't. He found a new life with the other four pilots and the people they met along the way, including what he had thought he'd never find – a family. The circus became his home, and to his surprise, he discovered that the girl he had come to think of as a sister really was, in fact, his biological sister, and that Trowa Barton's name was Triton Bloom."

"That girl was Ms. Catherine?" Trente asked. 

"Yes," Trowa said, nodding. "Your aunt." _My aunt, thought Trente. __I guess I have a lot of them._

"After the war, there wasn't much for Trowa to do. He lived with the circus for awhile, and kept in touch with his friends as best as he could, until one Christmas party that resulted in changing his life. You see, it was at this party that Trowa discovered something more precious than the peace he had fought for during the war. He found love. 

"It took an entire year to get up the courage, but Trowa's relationship with Quatre became the most important thing in the world to him. They were crazy about each other. They were together for several years, and then something changed. Quatre began to get more distant, more secretive, and Trowa didn't like it." 

"That was when Quietus showed up," Kenji said as he entered the cockpit. Trente jumped at the sound of his voice, but Kenji didn't move from the entrance to the sleeping quarters. He stood there, never taking his eyes off of Trente. "Quatre began to get heavily involved with the Quietus situation, and began meeting in secret with Annette Une, Dorothy Catalonia, and Zechs Marquise via teleconference. He didn't want to get Trowa involved until absolutely necessary, but he did tell one person – my father, Tobias "Duo Maxwell" Lowe." 

"I didn't know what to think," Trowa said, taking up the narrative again and dropping the third-person point of view. "So when Quatre's sister, Claire, approached me with documents proving that Quatre had been having secret meetings with Dorothy Catalonia, and that Dorothy was pregnant with Quatre's child- I suppose I went a little crazy. I packed up what I could carry, and left the Winner Colony."

"Never knowing, of course, that Claire hadn't been telling him everything," Kenji continued. "Claire had been against Trowa and Quatre's relationship from the start, and had seized an opportunity to destroy it. She didn't tell Trowa that Une and Zechs had been involved in the meetings as well, and didn't know that the child Dorothy was carrying was an implant - and that the only DNA in it that mattered was from Quatre _and Trowa. That child was you, Trente." _

"Then why didn't he tell me this himself?" Trente demanded, but not as angrily as he had before. 

"At the same time Trowa disappeared, a shuttle explosion near the Mars Colony took the lives of Zechs and Lucretzia Merquise, and Quatre suddenly found his world turning upside down," another voice said. "He had to get Neo-Oz up and running, and the Neo-Gundams needed be built, and he needed to make arrangements for Zechs' and Lucretzia's young daughter. And then you came along." 

Tobias stepped into the cockpit and stood next to his son. Trente could immediately see the resemblance between the two, and knew that this man had to be Duo Maxwell. "Quatre kept me informed of a lot of things for a few years, although I just heard the whole story - or what we know, anyway - recently," he said. "Trente, he didn't tell you he was his father because he knew that you'd have to suffer endless teasing and cruelty for it. Kenji did." He ruffled Kenji's hair, and earned a glare from the blue-eyed youth. "So he made up a story, and lived by it. It was the hardest thing for him to do."

Trente looked at Trowa. "What about you?" he demanded. 

"I had no idea," Trowa said. "I knew nothing about Quietus, the Neo-Gundams, or you. Of course I knew your name - I'd seen you on TV with Quatre a few times - but I believed the story that you were just his ward."

Trente shook his head, trying to clear it. "So what does all this mean?"

"It means that we've got a serious problem," Kenji said. He stepped inside and sat next to Trente. "Trente, about the barracks…I'm sorry. I had no idea…if I had, I wouldn't have done it. I've already been chewed out for it."

Trente felt his face heat up, but he opened his mouth to protest. Kenji shook his head. "Trente…Quatre said that it was Claire who told you, right?"

Trente nodded. 

"Claire seems to be at the bottom of everything," Tobias said bitterly. "She was out to get Trowa and Quatre from the beginning – and she was the only other person aside from Iria, Zoey, and Dorothy to know about your parentage, Trente. To make matters worse, it seems she might be involved with Quietus."

Trente paled. "What?"

"The attack on the L4 sector, the attack on the circus - they were connected to Quatre and Trowa," replied Kenji. "Claire told Quatre once, threatened him, said she'd go public with the locations of the all the Gundam pilots. _All. She knew exactly where each of them where. Not even Quatre knew that. He didn't think much of it then, since she'd also threatened to expose Neo-OZ, but the meaning is clear. If she was the only one who knew, than that explains how Quietus knew where to find Trowa. Trente, Claire also seems to be behind the resource satellite." _

"But there weren't any Gundam pilots there!" protested Trente. 

"You were, though," Kenji said. "And me. We're the only two children of the pilots - and if she knew where my parents were, she had to know about me. My other father is Heero Yuy."

Trente groaned. "Explains the Zero System and your battleskills," he muttered. 

Kenji nodded sheepishly. 

"Trente, I understand if you're still feeling upset with Quatre," Trowa said. "But it wasn't his fault. All of this was carefully planned. Claire set it all up, don't you see? She wanted to keep you separate from the rest of us - and what better way than to get you so mad you'd hate us? She just wasn't counting on you to find out from anybody but her." 

"I think I understand," Trente said softly. "I can even understand, Quatre, I guess, although I'm still a little angry with him. But Claire…I should've seen it. Every time she looked at me, even when she was talking nice, she never really looked sincere. I went to her, when I was confused, and she told me all sorts of things…" He looked at Kenji, embarrassed. "That's why I ran." 

Kenji nodded in understanding, then cautiously reached for Trente's hand. Trente let him. There was silence in the cockpit for awhile, each of them thinking about what had happened. 

"So, what now?" Trente asked. 

"Odin is on his way here," Tobias said, "and Dorothy said that Isaac O'Riley is already on his way to get him, even before I filled him in. We're trying to get all the Gundam pilots in the same place, I guess. Aside from that, Quatre and Une have called a meeting that we're all supposed to attend. I'd say we better get moving."

Trente nodded. 

"Are you okay?" Trowa asked, looking at him. 

Trente looked up at him, at his father, and nodded slowly. "I think so…Otousan." 

Together, the four pilots headed for the meeting, each of them feeling much lighter than they had an hour earlier.  


	47. The Result of No More Secrets

**Gundam MegaWing: After Colony 225**

**Chapter Forty-Seven: The Result of No More Secrets**

"Here."

Noir stopped and pressed himself against the wall, holding his small flashlight up to the lock of the door so that Cindy could see what she was doing. Cindy removed a thin piece of metal, a pin of some sort, from her hair and slid it into the lock. She moved it around for a few minutes until she heard an audible_ click, and then pushed open the door with both hands. _

"Stupid scientists were so full of themselves, they didn't put electronic locks on the labs," Cindy laughed as the door closed behind them and she removed the mask that covered the top of her face, letting her white-blonde hair fall down to its normal length. She tapped Noir's shoulder. "Do you need more light?" 

Noir contemplated the flashlight in his hand, then shook his head. "I'm fine," he said clearly. Cindy nodded and pulled her own flashlight out of her back pocket, then moved over to a bank of computers on the far side of the lab. Noir began looking through a file cabinet that had been left wide open. 

Cindy ran her hand along the tops of the computers, and came up with a thick layer of dust on her palm. _Nobody's used this in awhile, realized Cindy. A slight smile appeared on her face. __About four years, probably. She pulled up a chair and wiped off one of the screens, then felt around in the back. "Old," she realized with surprise. The computers were out-dated models - easy for her to hack into. _

With the computer up and running in a matter of minutes, Cindy set to work getting into the database. It was an isolated program, as she had hoped, so she didn't need to worry about tipping off security. They wouldn't even know that the computer had suddenly been turned off. 

Behind her, Noir used the very type of his thermal scythe to melt his way into another file cabinet, and removed a set of files. _What's this? he thought. He hadn't found anything in the other cabinet, but whoever had cleared out of this one had left it behind. _

There were six files, the first labeled TOP SECRET. He opened it and read the heading at the top of the page. 

**Specimen Incubation **

**Lab 32**

He looked at the number over the door of the lab, and saw that it read **31. Lab 32, an incubation room, apparently, was right next door. The fogged window that ran the length of one of the walls probably led into it. He looked back at the paper. **

They were lab reports, running if order of latest to earliest. The page he was staring at was the last days of the incubation room. The first paper covered about two weeks prior to his birth. 

**5/3 **

**Specimen 01 - Response time slow, unable to register light and sound**

**Specimen 02 - Response time acceptable, light registration nominal, sound registration inadequate.**

**Specimen 03 - Response time acceptable, light registration nominal, sound registration nominal. Unusual brain impulses. **

**Specimen 04 - Inadequate. Subject terminated. **

**Specimen 05 - Response time acceptable, light registration inadequate, sound registration nominal. **

_Specimens? thought Noir. He read ahead further. _

**5/5**

**Specimen 01 - Response time diminished, still unable to register light and sound, neuron deficiency detected. Special solution added.**

**Specimen 02 - Response time highly acceptable, light registration nominal, failure to register sound minor setback.  **

**Specimen 03 - Response time highly acceptable, light registration nominal, sound registration nominal. Brain impulses continue - CAT scan scheduled. **

**Specimen 05 - Response time diminished, light registration unfound, sound registration inadequate. **

**5/7**

**Specimen 01 - Response time unfound, light and sound registration unfound, brain activity nominal. Solution success. **

**Specimen 02 - Response time highly acceptable, light registration increase, sound registration normal*.**

**Specimen 03 - Response time highly acceptable, light registration nominal, sound registration nominal. CAT scan reveals diminished nerve capacity. **

**Specimen 05 - Inadequate. Subject terminated. **

**5/9**

**Specimen 01 - Response time random, light and sound registration unfound, brain activity heightened. **

**Specimen 02 - Response time highly acceptable, light registration highly acceptable, sound registration normal*.**

**Specimen 03 - Response time highly acceptable, light registration nominal, sound registration nominal. Solution C-49 administered. **

**5/11**

**Specimen 01 - Inadequate. Subject terminated. **

**Specimen 02 - Response time highly acceptable, light registration highly acceptable, sound registration normal*.**

**Specimen 03 - Response time highly acceptable, light registration nominal, sound registration nominal. Solution C-49 success, nerve capacity increase. **

**5/13**

**Specimen 02 - Response time highly acceptable, light registration highly acceptable, sound registration normal*. **

**Specimen 03 - Response time highly acceptable, light registration highly acceptable, sound registration highly acceptable. Nerve capacity heightened. **

**5/15**

**Specimen 02 - Response time highly acceptable, light registration highly acceptable, sound registration normal*.**

**Specimen 03 - Inadequate. Subject terminated. **

**5/17**

**Specimen 02 - Successful. **

May 17. That was the day that Noir was born, or at least that was the day the scientists had always told him he was born. Was is possible that Specimen 02 was actually referring to him? But then who were the other four specimens, and why were they terminated. 

"Cindy," Noir said, picking up the files and walking over to where she was sitting at the computer. "Look at these."

Cindy took the file he was holding and read the first piece of paper. "Weird," she said, frowning slightly. "What's even stranger is what's in this computer." She positioned the screen so that Noir could both see it and look at her lips. "In this particular file, there are five separate screens, each labeled 01, 02, 03, 04, and 05. Probably the specimens. Do you know what these are?"

Noir shook his head. 

"Genetic codes," Cindy replied. "DNA structures. This lab was dealing in genetics."

"What would Quietus want with genetics?" asked Noir.

"Beats me," Cindy said, shaking her head. "There's a code name for whatever they were doing, too - Project Cyclone." She looked at Noir, eyebrows raised. 

"The Cyclone Mobile DOLLs?" asked Noir. 

"Possibly." She glanced at the heading of the paper. "Lab 32. That's right next door. See if you can find out why each of those other four specimens were terminated, and I'll go check it out. The reasons are probably in those other files. They've got the numbered labels on them, too." She got up and went over towards the fogged window, and left Noir with the files. 

He picked up the first one, labeled 01, and opened it. There were detailed lab reports with made absolutely no sense to him at that moment, but he didn't have to go very deep into the file to find what Cindy wanted. There was a piece of paper placed on the very top of the file. 

**01 Subject Termination**

**Specimen 01 terminated due to a heightened increase in brain activity due to Solution A-1, but failure to thrive within the physical aspects of the body. 01 was deemed inadequate for the purpose of Project Cyclone, and terminated on 5/12. **

Noir nodded slightly. That fit with the details that had been on the incubation report. He reached for the file of the first specimen to die, 04, and read the report. 

**04 Subject Termination**

**Specimen 04 terminated due to premature responses. While maturing at a normal rate, it progressed to each stage much faster than the other four specimens. Emergency extraction caused the fetus to rupture on 5/2. **

_Fetus? Noir bit his lip. __So those genetic codes are were babies! The odds of Specimen 02 being him were getting greater. He reached for the next file._

**05 Subject Termination**

**Specimen 05 terminated due to progressive diminishment of capabilities. The fetus slipped into a coma, and was deemed inadequate for the purpose of Project Cyclone. The specimen was terminated on 5/6. **

**03 Subject Termination**

**Specimen 03 terminated due to unknown causes at time of death. Autopsy of fetus showed that a blood vessel had ruptured in the brain, causing immediate death. Rupture suspected to be result of heightened nerve capacity, a direct result of the administration of  Solution C-49. **

So that explained was 03, seemingly more healthy than 02, had suddenly been terminated. Noir reached for the 02 file, wondering what he would find there. The file stopped at the same moment as the other specimens, and there was a note for it, too. 

**02 Subject Success**

**Specimen 02 was extracted from its incubation pod on 5/17. All physical and mental aspects are normal, save for a genetic anomaly during the cloning process that resulted in a complete loss of hearing. Specimen 02 was renamed Subject DM. **

_Cloning?! _

Noir grabbed the piece of paper and stood up to look for Cindy, and saw that she had used a chair to break the glass window, and was standing in Lab 32. He hurriedly climbed through the window and called out her name to get in attention. She looked up from the board she was reading, and waved him over. 

"Look at this," Noir said, handing her the paper. "The specimens were all fetus', and all clones. That explains the genetic codes that the computers held. And I think that _I was – am – Specimen 02." _

Cindy nodded gravely. "You're right," she said. "This bulletin board here explains everything." She reached up and removed a piece of paper. "It's the explanation for Project Cyclone. Read it."

Noir took the paper and began to read. 

**Project Cyclone**

**Objective: to create a superior battle intelligence for the proposed Cyclone Mobile DOLL Units by start of production. **

**Procedure: use the Cyclone Specimens to copy artificial intelligence into the Cyclone Units, allowing them to think and prepare themselves for any battle scenario. **

**Purpose: to create a superior Mobile DOLL Unit and allow the Cyclones to overtake any opposition. **

Noir looked up at Cindy. "They wanted to create AI programs for the Cyclones?" 

"Right," Cindy said. "It's the same basic intelligence program used in Neo-Gundams Shinigami, Atlantica, and MegaWing. I installed a similar program in Chronosphere, which no one else is aware of. But this is slightly different. See, they wanted to use the battle intelligence from the best Mobile Suit pilots known, to graph their movements and patterns into the Cyclone Units programs. It's a step up from the technology used for the Mercurious and Vayaete DOLLs used by OZ thirty years ago." 

"But there would be problems with using living pilots," Noir said, frowning. "The emotional aspects of the pilots would make the DOLLs harder to control." 

"Right," Cindy agreed. "That was the flaw in many artificial intelligence programs. So instead, Quietus opted for a different route. They extracted DNA from the best pilots, probably without their knowledge, and instead grew clones of them - the Specimens. The idea was to raise the clones so that they would have no emotional responses but the ones Quietus wanted them to have, and then graft their personalities into the Cyclones when they matured. But only one Specimen made it to full-term." 

"Me," Noir said, realization dawning on his face. Then he frowned. "How do you know all this?"

Cindy pointed to a book sitting underneath the bulletin board. "It's a lab journal," she explained, "left by one of the scientists. Apparently, after you escaped before they could graft your personality onto the Cyclones, the whole project was terminated. The scientist writes about the possibility of going into the back-up plan, but then writes that it would be too complicated, as too much time had gone by. He doesn't mention what the back-up was."

Noir nodded slowly. "So I was created for the Cyclones," he said, a spark of anger lighting. He looked at Cindy. "Who were the pilots used for the Specimens?" he asked. His hand automatically went to his pocket. 

Cindy sighed. "The best," she said, "of the best." She stepped away from the bulletin board. 

Four black-and-white pictures were pinned up, each with a number over it. The spot under **02 was blank, but the name under where the picture should go wasn't. There were names under the other four, too.******

Noir removed the matching picture from his pocket, and pinned it up in the right spot. It fit perfectly.

**01 - Heero Yuy**

**02 - Duo Maxwell**

**03 - Trowa Barton**

**04 - Quatre Raberba Winner**

**05 - Chang Wufei**

"The Specimens were the clones of the five Gundam pilots," Noir said, not even sure if he was speaking out loud. "And I am the clone of Duo Maxwell." 

Cindy nodded. She tapped Noir's shoulder, and he turned to look at her, a little dazed. "How did you get that photo?" she asked.

Noir shrugged. "It was before I escaped. Someone slipped it under the door to my room. That was when I knew _something strange was going on, but I didn't know for sure. All I knew was that I had to leave." _

"So someone was trying to get you to get out without directly interfering," Cindy murmured. A slight smile appeared on her face. "Seems like we might have a friend within Quietus, after all."

"But who?" Noir wondered. 

A hand fell on his shoulder, and he spun around suddenly. Cindy turned and gasped. 

"I thought I might find you here," Treize Kushrenada said, smiling. 

"Is that everyone?" Quatre asked, looking at Une. 

Une looked around the room at the assembled Neo-OZ officials and Preventers, then glanced at Sally, who had just walked in. Sally nodded, and Une turned to Quatre. "One might be a little late, but that's basically everyone." 

"Good." Quatre stood up and walked to the podium at the front of the room. The only signs that he had just been in an accident were the bandages that covered parts of his skin. Quatre looked around the room at the people assembled: Relena, Rasheed, Hilde, Dorothy, Meila, Sandra, Trente, Kenji, Trowa, Tobias, Mariemeia, Catherine, Sally, and Une. There was one chair empty, but that was okay. "I'm glad you all could make it on short notice," he said. "I'm going to assume that you all know what Quietus is, so that I can get straight to the point. 

"Quietus is after the Gundam pilots." 

Tobias nodded grimly, and Trowa closed his eyes briefly to stop himself from swearing. 

Quatre gripped the sides of the podium to continue. "We believe that they were tipped off to the locations of each pilot by my own sister, Claire, who runs the Winner Academy. Some of my people are looking for her now, but it seems that she might have already left the colony. We have proof that she's responsible for the destruction of the Winner Corporation Resource Satellite that was aiding Heatseeker and MegaWing several days ago. 

"As we speak, pilot Isaac O'Riley is on his way to L2 to retrieve Heero Yuy, who now goes by the name of Odin Lowe Jr.," Quatre continued. "Heero is the last of the original pilots that we need to find." 

Confusion erupted in the room. "The last?" Tobias stared at Quatre in surprise. "Did you forget how to count while you were unconscious, Cat?"

"There you are!" Une suddenly exclaimed as the last person to attend the meeting entered the room. 

Preventer Dragon hurried to the front of the room and handed a printout to Une. "That just came in from Chronosphere," he said to her. "I think it might answer a few questions we've got." 

Une scanned over the message, her eyes widened. "Is this accurate?" she demanded, looking at Dragon.

He nodded. "It is. Everything." He turned to sit down, and caught sight of Tobias and Trowa. He smiled. "Hey."

"_WUFEI?!" Tobias, Trowa, Kenji, Trente, Meila, Sandra, Relena, Hilde, Catherine, and Dorothy exclaimed in shock. The only ones not surprised were Une, Quatre, Sally, and Mariemeia - the Preventers because they worked with Wufei everyday, and Quatre because Une had told him just before the meeting and he'd had the chance to get over the shock. _

"Wufei's been our connection to the pilot of Chronosphere, Arctic Wind," Quatre said as Wufei sat down next to Sally. "And I know everyone wants to talk to him, but we don't have time right now." He looked at Une. "What is it?"

Une sighed. "As a lot of you know, Arctic Wind has been undercover within Quietus for quite a few years now. Wufei's been her only contact to the Preventers. This is a message that came approximately half an hour ago, and it looks like we're running out of time."

"What's it say?" Meila asked, leaning forward against the table. 

Une looked at Wufei. "Do you want to explain it?"

Wufei nodded, and reached for the printout. "First of all, Arctic Wind is, really, Cynthia Merquise. She's the daughter of Zechs and Noin." 

He waited for the stunned responses to die down before he continued. "In the last twenty-four hours, she has apparently unraveled a lot of the mysteries in this web of secrets, starting with a trace that I asked her to do on a hacker named TKRose." He smiled at Mariemeia. "You know him well."

"TKRose?" Sandra frowned. "That's Isaac's handle."

"Actually, it's registered as the handle for a hacker named Trieze Kushrenada Jr.," Wufei said. "But since that's the same as Isaac O'Riley, it makes no difference."

"Isaac is related to _Trieze Kushrenada?!" Trente shouted, standing up and staring at Wufei. _

Wufei eyed the uncharacteristic explosion calmly, then nodded. "His grandson, actually."

"Mariemeia?" Sally looked at the red-head. "Is this true?"

Mariemeia nodded. "Treize was named for my father, yes, so he earned the Jr. part of his title. He was placed in the Witness Protection Program a long time ago, and the boating accident that he was supposed to have drowned in was staged to cover it up. Only Wufei, Dorothy, and Quatre knew is true identity." She smiled at Dorothy. "Thank you for keeping such a good eye on my son."

"You can thank me when he gets Heero Yuy here in one piece," Dorothy said. 

Trente sat down and massaged his temples. "Trieze Kushrenada. That explains a lot." 

"Can I continue?" Wufei asked.

Nods around the table. 

"After Cindy sent me the message pertaining to Isaac - he's more well-known by that name, and it _is his middle name, anyway - she was jumped by a young man who had sneaked into the base," Wufei continued. "His name is Noir Date, and one of you has already encountered him." He glanced at Meila._

Her eyes widened. "The Shinigami pilot!" 

"Right," Wufei confirmed. "Noir was raised by Quietus, but escaped about four years ago with the help of Cindy and someone else on the inside. Now here's where things get tricky. Apparently Noir was part of a cloning experiment Quietus performed to put an superior AI program into the Cyclone Mobile DOLLs. Five clones were created, but only Noir survived. He escaped before the personality could be implanted into the DOLLs, and the project was scrapped. 

"However, there was a back-up plan. The back-up to get the material for the AI program was to find the original donors of the five clones, and grafting their own personalities. This was an imperfect idea, but it was better than nothing. At the time of Noir's escape, the Quietus Council deemed that too much time had passed to locate the original donors, and things seemed closed."

"So the failure to install the program is why the Cyclones were easier to beat than our data suggested," Trente said, glancing at Quatre. Quatre offered his son a tremulous smile, and nodded. There was still a bit of tension between them, but it seemed like it had started to fade. 

"However, the back-up plan has begun again," Wufei said. "A member of Quietus, one Claire Ayallah Winner, has given them the locations of all five of the original donors. Quietus already attempted to retrieve two of them, and is on their way to retrieve another. They won't find him."

"Hold on," Trowa said, narrowing his eyes. "Claire? Who are the donors?"

"Who do you think?" Wufei asked.

"Us?!" Tobias yelped. 

Quatre stared at Wufei in shock. "Clones?"

"Specimens 01, 03, 04, and 05 were deemed inadequate and were terminated, all for various reasons, but Specimen 02 was successful except for a loss of hearing," Wufei continued, reading from the printout. "'02 was cloned from Duo Maxwell, and his DNA is a 99.98% match to his donor. 02 goes by the name Noir Date now, and apparently the .01% difference lies in his hair color, which is blue rather than brown. Probably an identification mark.'" He looked up from the paper. "So that's the reason Quietus is after the original pilots," he said. "When they realize Heero isn't on L2, they'll probably head here." 

"For you," Kenji said, nodding. He glanced at Tobias. "Wow. You've been cloned, Pops."

"A clone of Tobias?" Hilde asked, smirking. "Scary." 

"Shut up," Tobias snapped. "This isn't funny." He looked at Wufei. "Is there anything else?"

"Not about Noir," Wufei replied. "But there is more."

"Go on," Une said. Quatre noted that, strangely enough, she seemed tense. 

"Cindy and Noir have decided that the only way to defeat Quietus is to take out of the base," Wufei said. "They know where the power core is, and they can blow it at any time which enough time to escape. But Mars is heavily guarded by Cyclones, so they won't be able to get out before the power surge catches up with them." He looked at Quatre. "They're requesting as much Mobile Suit aid as can be spared to wipe out the Cyclones. Then they'll blow the core and escape on their Neo-Gundams." 

Quatre stared at Wufei, then nodded slowly. "That just might work," he said softly. "We'll have to wait until Isaac gets here, and then we'll need a way to get to Mars without having to refuel, but it could work." He looked at Dorothy. "What's Neo-Sandrock's status?"

"Completely functional, and can be shipped here at any moment," she replied. "I just have to inform Akira."

"Do that," Quatre said. "Heatseeker and MegaWing?"

"Heatseeker's repairs are 95% complete, and MegaWing's are 80%," replied Mariemeia. "Lotus and Atlantica are in prime condition as well." 

Quatre nodded. "So with Sparticus, that's six Neo-Gundams." He looked at Wufei. "Does Cindy give an estimate of how many Cyclones to expect?"

"More than six can handle," Wufei sighed. 

"How many?"

"Several hundred." 

Everyone stared at him. "You're kidding," Tobias said flatly. "Several _hundred? What, are they preparing for invasion?"_

"Yes," Wufei replied, nodding. "They gathered all the Cyclones for personality transplant, but if that's not possible - i.e. if they don't capture me - then they'll launch them to Earth and the colonies."

"How do Cindy and Noir know this?" Dorothy demanded. 

Wufei bit his lip. "That's the incredible part. Apparently one of the Quietus Council is helping them. You all know him." He shook his head in disbelief. "It's Trieze." 

"Isaac?" Mariemeia asked, frowning. 

"No," Wufei said. "Your father." 

There was a knock on the door, loud and clear in the stunned silence. "Come in," Une said softly.

The door opened, and a young Preventer stuck his head in. "Ma'am? That Mobile Suit you were expecting has landed." 

Wufei stood up and gathered up the printout. "Well. Let's go fill Isaac and Heero in, and see where to go from there."

Isaac turned around in his seat and looked at his passenger. "Need some help?" he asked Odin.

Odin shook his head. "Just give me the elevator cord," he said. "And then hope that my legs don't collapse from underneath me."

Isaac grinned and opened the cockpit door, then grabbed the cord and passed it to Odin. "Here." 

Sparticus had landed in a kneeling position, so it was easy for Isaac to just jump out of the cockpit and hit the ground. It was still a high jump, but years of martial arts and gymnastics had helped him be able to accomplish it. He stood up and removed his space helmet, then watched as Odin lowered himself to the ground. The forty-five-year-old released the cord and stood there, and little shakily, but still managed to stay on his feet. He walked over to Isaac. 

"You're suit is impressive," he said, looking up at Sparticus. "And your skill as a pilot matches it. Not to mention as a hacker." 

Isaac grinned. "Thanks. Coming from you, that means a lot. I wasn't expecting those Cyclones, though, to tell you the truth. I think the colony saw them."

"Probably," agreed Odin. 

Isaac started to say something else, when he looked over Odin's shoulder and grinned. "Over here!" he shouted. 

Odin turned around, and was immediately jumped by a tall, enthusiastic long-haired man, followed back a teenager of the same build. Odin wrapped his arms around Tobias and Kenji and held them tight. "God, I missed you," he whispered to both of them before releasing them. He wrapped an arm around Tobias' waist and kissed him softly, then looked at Kenji. "You grew," he said in amazement.

Kenji shrugged, but he was smiling anyway. "A little," he said. "Hey, Isaac."

"Kenji," Isaac said, nodding. 

"_Trieze!" _

The familiar voice made Isaac freeze. "Mom?" he whispered when he saw Mariemeia running towards them. "_Mom!" _

Une watched the reunion of mother and son happily, but didn't join them right away. She walked over to where the Lowes were standing, and shook Odin's hand. "It's good to see you, Yuy," she said, smiling. "How much did Isaac tell you?"

"Enough," Odin said. "And it's Lowe now, Anne. Odin Lowe." 

"Funny, I never thought of you as an Odin, Heero."

"Wufei?" Odin turned to look at the owner of the voice in amazement. "Is that you?"

"That's right," Wufei said. He motioned behind him. "And I'm sure you know them, too."

"Trowa," Odin said, smiling. "Quatre." 

Kenji stepped back quickly to escape being crushed by the five-way hug that the pilots shared, and found himself standing next to his fellow Neo-Gundam pilots. "They look happy," he commented. 

"They should be," Meila said, smiling. "They haven't been in the same place together for over twenty years." Then her eyes lit up, and she dug around in her uniform jacket. 

"What are you doing?" Sandra asked, frowning.

Meila removed a small notebook and pen. "I'll be back in a minute," she said, and she marched over to the cluster of pilots. 

Quatre noticed her, and grinned. "You've got four here," he told her.

Meila nodded and held the notebook and pen out to Odin, Tobias, Trowa, and Wufei. "Can I have your autographs?" she asked hopefully. 

Tobias burst out laughing, but accepted the notebook and scrawled _Duo Maxwell out, taking up an entire sheet of paper. Odin rolled his eyes at the large signature, and added a small, modest __Heero Yuy in the corner underneath Tobias'. Trowa and Wufei both added their names somewhere on the page, and then Wufei handed the book back to Meila._

Meila looked at the piece of paper in amazement. "I must be the only one in the world with all five Gundam pilots," she whispered to the five signatures on the page. "Thanks." 

"You're the pilot of Lotus, aren't you?" Wufei asked.

Meila nodded. "It's a 05 model."

"It does Nataku justice," he said. 

Meila stared at him, speechless. 

"You got her to be quiet," Isaac teased. "I'm amazed."

Meila glared at him, and he gulped. "Uh…" Isaac turned and ran.

She tossed off her jacket and removed a long, slender katana from its holder on her back. "GET BACK HERE!" she shouted as she chased after him.

"Shouldn't you stop her?" Trowa asked, frowning.

"No," Quatre said, shaking his head. "They did this a couple of times after Meila got here, and her teacher warned me that she does this sometimes. It's just her way of working on anger." 

"Hey, maybe she's related to Wufei!" Tobias said, grinning. 

"What's that supposed to mean, Maxwell?" Wufei growled. 

"You haven't changed a bit," Relena said as she came over to them. "None of you have. Hello, Odin."

"Relena," Odin said, smiling. "How are you?"

"Fine," Relena said. "Although there's a lot to discuss."

Quatre nodded and turned to Odin. He have him a quick rundown of everything, not giving Odin nearly enough time to react to the news of Isaac's identity, Noir's origins, or Trieze's apparent resurrection - which none of them really knew anything about. "But there are too many Cyclones for six Neo-Gundams to handle," Quatre finished. 

Odin nodded, his face creased in worry. _Relena's wrong, thought Quatre. __Heero, at least, has changed. Odin is much more expressive than Heero ever was. Then Odin looked at Relena. "What about the cargo?"_

Relena drew in a sharp breath. "Of course!" 

"What?" everyone asked, confused. 

Relena looked sheepish. "Well…Odin's talking about my pet project. The Peacemillion 2. It's an identical replication of the original Peacemillion. It would have enough fuel to get the Neo-Gundams to Mars, and would be able to refuel them when necessary. It also has a shield that can protect against explosive backlashes."

Une breathed a sigh of relief. "I didn't realize it was finished." 

"I was keeping is secret until it's test run," Relena explained. "I also didn't want my ex-husband to get his hands on it. Fortunately, Odin helped me sort out the legalities, so it's available whenever needed now. It's in Siberia."

"So that solves that problem," Sally said. "But what about the Cylcones? Is the Peacemillion 2 offensive?"

"No," Relena said. "It has defensive capabilities, but no way to outright attack." 

"The cargo, Relena," Odin said, gazing at her. "I wasn't referring to just the ship."

Instead  of the relief she'd felt when she'd remembered the Peacemillion 2, Relena paled. "But, Odin…they'd have to be refit! It'd take forever!" 

"What?" 

Odin smiled grimly. "I'm the only one aside from Relena and the technicians who know about this one," he said. "And that's only because I helped her with the Peacemillion 2. Relena, it seems, has rebuilt a dangerous secret. She could get in big trouble if the Earth Sphere finds out she has them." 

Une looked at Relena. "You didn't," she said, looking like she felt a little sick. "You didn't."

"Just five of them," Relena said. 

"Five of what?" Quatre asked, confused. 

Relena sighed. "While you were building the Neo-Gundams, Quatre, I decided to do a little insurance of my own. So, using the confiscated parts of certain Mobile Suits that were recovered after they were destroyed, and resources that I picked up from various places, I had Howard rebuilt Wing Zero, Deathscythe HELL, Heavyarms, Altron, and Epyon." 

"You did _what?!" Quatre shouted angrily. _

"You were already rebuilding Sandrock," Relena said quietly. "I built them as insurance, just in case. They were never really meant to be used unless in an absolute emergency. They aren't even entirely finished. Wing Zero still needs the ZERO System installed, and it'll need to refit for Odin, anyway. Epyon is the only one that's completely together. Deathscythe's thermal scythe isn't functioning properly, and neither is Altron's dragon fang. And Heavyarms is still too heavy."

"All things that could be remedied," Trowa murmured. 

They stared at him in shock. "Trowa," Catherine said shakily, "you mean…"

"Altron will need to be refit, too," Wufei said. He tapped his arm sheepishly. "It's fake. A Mobile Suit accident during the construction of the Preventer Colony Base. If Altron can be fixed to compensate it, I'll have no trouble."

"With our individual knowledge, we could finish them," Tobias said, nodding. 

Quatre stared at them. "You mean, you'd actually pilot them?"

Odin nodded, and looked at Une. "Well? Would ten Gundams do the trick?"

"Eleven," Relena said.

"There's no pilot for Epyon," Dorothy argued. 

"Yeah, there is," Trente said, looking at Relena. "The Foreign Minister." 

"What?" Hilde turned to Relena, aghast. "No way!" 

"I completed Epyon, complete with its computer system, and I've been practicing on it," Relena said. "Without Zechs, I'm the only choice you have. I can pilot Epyon."

Odin looked at her, expressionless. Then he nodded slightly. "Une?"

She sighed. "If you're all sure about this – eleven Gundams should be more than enough."

Quatre looked at all of them. "I'm not going to force anyone," he said quietly. "But I'm going to do this. So?"

"I'm in," Trente said, nodding. 

"Me, too," Kenji added. 

"Count on me," Isaac replied, having heard the last part of the conversation once getting away from Meila.

"I'm in," Meila said cheerfully. 

"As am I," Sandra said. 

"I'll do it," Wufei replied. 

"You already know my answer," Relena said, smiling. 

"So once again, I'll be on the battlefield," Trowa said, a slight smile on his face. 

"Guess I'm the God of Death again," Tobias said. 

Odin met Quatre's eyes, and nodded. "Mission accepted." 

The Gundam pilots were back. All of them. 

"Any luck finding 01?" 

"No," the Cyborg said, shaking his head. "Forgive me, One. He wasn't on the colony. Neo-Gundam 04 got to him before we could." 

"05 is at the Preventers base," Two said to One. "We could go there."

"Too much security," One said, shaking his head. "We don't want to blow our cover yet. Let's face it - we lost our last chance for Project Cyclone. But we do have enough DOLLs to attack Earth and the Colonies." 

"So…" Three hesitated. 

"Attack," Four said quietly. 

"Exactly," One said, smirking. 

Then the smirk faded. "Where's Trieze?" 

"We can't find him," one of the soldiers said. 

One growled softly. "Find him. I want him present for this. He'll be so pleased. Hold off on launching the Cyclones until he arrives." 

_Twelve hours later…_

_Siberia_

"How's it feel?"

Wufei looked up and saw Sally standing on the catwalk outside Neo-Altron. "Howard and Relena did a good job," he said, smiling. "I didn't have to do much to adjust for my arm. Nataku feels great." 

Sally sighed in relief. "That's good," she said. "So how much more to do you have to do?"

"Nothing." Wufei shut down the Gundam and unbuckled himself. "He's ready to go." 

"Here." Sally held out her hand and helped him from the cockpit, then looked around the huge hanger within Peacemillion 2. "This is amazing."

Wufei slid an arm around her waist and nodded. Neo-Altron stood between Neo-Epyon and Neo-Sandrock, which had arrived a few hours earlier. Next to Neo-Sandrock was Neo-Heavyarms, which had undergone a few drastic design changes to make it lighter (Relena had forgotten to compensate for the overly heavy arm), and was expected to be finished within the hour. Neo-Deathscythe was completely finished, including its thermal scythe, which had been completed within an hour of their arrival. Neo-Wing had the most to be fixed, but with the ZERO System copied from MegaWing, all it needed was to be refit so that it would be easy for Odin to pilot. 

Across from them stood the other Gundams. Heatseeker had been restocked, and was ready to go. MegaWing needed a new armor refit, which had been easy, and Lotus and Atlantica had just needed refueling. Sparticus had taken more damage than expected with its escape from L2, but Isaac was almost finished the repair. That was all of the Neo-Gundams accounted for, not counting Chronosphere and Shinigami on Mars. There were berths for them in the hanger as well, standing empty. 

"Think we should tell them before or after the mission?" Wufei said. 

Sally touched her stomach gently and smiled at her husband. "After,"  she said. "It'll give you some incentive to get back here in one piece."

Wufei nodded. "What do you think our chances are?"

"The five of you defeated OZ and Dekim Barton," Sally said. "With the added help of Trente, Kenji, Isaac, Meila, Sandra, Cindy, and Noir, I think you've got more than a shot. But those Cyclones _are dangerous."_

"Chang!" 

Wufei looked down at Lady Une. "What?" he called.

"Go suit up!" she called back. "We'll be ready to move out soon." 

Peacemillion 2 had launched ten hours earlier. They would be spotted within two hours. As soon as Heavyarms was finished, they would launch. "Did you contact Cindy?" Sally asked.

Wufei nodded. "They'll move as soon as they get the message that we've taken care of the Cyclones. They'll need to be in position before them. Regardless of their situation, we have to be back on Peacemillion 2 and on the other side of Mars before the explosion. We should meet up with them then, if all goes according to plan."

"What if they can't get out?"

"The base will explode," Wufei said. He looked at her. "This is a precision plan, Sally. Anything could go wrong. It's our job to make sure it doesn't."

Sally nodded. "Good luck." 

Wufei kissed her. "Quietus is the one who'll need luck." 

The blue-and-gold Neo-OZ flight suit fit perfectly. "These are great, Cat. I can't believe you were able to get them on short notice." 

"I had the Winner Corporation's tailor adjust them," Quatre said. "But are you sure about the name?"

The gold script on the front of the uniform, bearing the name **D. Maxwell, stood out against the blue fabric. "I'm sure," Duo said, smiling sadly. "Tobias Sheridan isn't the God of Death. Duo Maxwell is. But it was nice, being him for awhile." Duo turned towards the full-length mirror in the locker room and touched the braid that was the length of three-fourths of his height. **

"But you're not entirely Duo Maxwell anymore, just as I'm not completely Heero Yuy. We've both changed, grown up. We're something different." With the name **H. Yuy on his uniform, Heero joined Quatre and Duo in front of the mirror. He took Duo's hand. "We've lived two lives," he said softly, looking at his reflection. "And now they've both come together."**

"Any room for me?"

They looked up at Trowa's voice, and Quatre's eyes widened. "Trowa," he breathed, his heart skipping a beat suddenly. 

Trowa had removed the eyepatch and the ponytail, and had fixed his hair once again into his traditional unibang style. He had completely transformed from Triton Bloom to Trowa Barton once more. "The patch was fake?" Duo asked, frowning.

Trowa shook his head. "No. But I can't pilot with only one eye. The patch was to cover this." He pointed to a scar that parted his eyebrow and ran just along the outside of his eye. "The eye wasn't damaged, but I was sick of people staring at my scar." 

"This is definitely something," Wufei said as finished fastening his own flight suit. 

"You don't mind wearing the Neo-OZ insignia, do you?" asked Quatre. "You're still a Preventer."

"Not when I'm fighting," Wufei said, shaking his head. He looked over at Isaac, who was sitting on a bench beside the row of lockers. "What's wrong?" he asked the dejected-looking pilot. 

Isaac pointed to the name on his flight suit. "It's wrong," he said. 

Quatre smiled. "I thought about that, actually. I wasn't sure if you wanted to go by Isaac or Trieze once your identity was known, so I had the tailor add something." He walked over and knelt down in front of Isaac. 

"I don't mind being called Isaac, since that's what a lot of people called me to keep from getting confused," Isaac said, "but I always wrote my name normally. What are you doing?"

Quatre pulled on a loose thread that Isaac hadn't noticed, and the patch with his name on it suddenly fell away. "Better?"

Isaac looked in the mirror and grinned. "T.I. Kushrenada," he read. "Thanks, Quatre." 

"Anytime."

Heero glanced at the clock. "We should get out there." He pulled Duo towards the door. "Come on. Wufei, Isaac, let's go." The two pilots followed obediently after. 

Quatre turned towards door as well, but was stopped by Trowa's hand on his arm. "Quatre," Trowa said softly. "Wait."

Quatre swallowed hard and turned to look at the Heavyarms pilot. "What?" he asked. 

"Seventeen years ago I failed to make a commitment," Trowa said. "Then I thought you'd betrayed me. So I left. But during that time, no matter how much I tried to hate you, I couldn't. And when you showed up at the circus, older, harder, but still the same Quatre, I tried to distance myself. Once I learned the truth, I couldn't do that. And now I find out that we have a son. Trente is the bond between us now, Quatre. But, if you're willing, I'd like to make it permanent." Trowa reached into the locker he had claimed, and removed a small velvet box. 

Quatre stopped breathing. 

"Can you forgive me, Quatre Raberba Winner?" Trowa asked. 

"Yes," Quatre whispered, throat dry.  

Taking a deep breath, Trowa got down on one knee in front of Quatre, and opened the box, revealing a ring that perfectly matched the ring hidden in Quatre's dresser on L4. The only difference was that there was a small diamond in this one. "And will you marry me?"

Quatre didn't need any words to tell Trowa his answer. Their kiss was all he needed. 

When they parted, Quatre looked up at Trowa and suddenly frowned. "Hey…where're Trente and Kenji?"

Trente and Kenji were, at that moment, locked in Heatseeker's cockpit. They were sprawled out on Trente's cot, and had been for quite awhile. 

Kenji pulled away from Trente reluctantly. "We should really get suited up," he said softly. 

Trente groaned and sat up, pulling his hands from underneath Kenji's shirt. "Great," he muttered. Then he looked at Kenji. "But we can continue later, right?"

Kenji laughed. "I think I created a monster," he said, hugging Trente happily. He groaned softly when Trente immediately began placing little kisses on Kenji's neck, and pulled away again. "I'll never be able to get out of here if you don't stop." 

Trente smiled sheepishly. "I can't really help it. I'm a sixteen-year-old male who hasn't had much practice controlling his hormones. My body sometimes does things on its own."

Kenji eyed him, and smirked. "I think I figured that out on my own."

Trente turned bright red, and stood up to retrieve his shirt, which had somehow ended up on top of the mini-fridge. "Oh, shut up," he grumbled. 

Kenji just laughed and stretched. "You know, neither of us have worn those flight suits yet," he said. "I've got mine in MegaWing. I'll go get changed, and I'll meet you outside." He got up and out of the cockpit, but not before exchanging a few more minutes of kisses with Trente. 

Trente chuckled softly at Kenji's energy, then picked up his own flight suit. He turned it over, expecting to see his name embossed on the front in gold silk, like all the others. 

It was. But not T. Nanashi. 

In thin script to fit all of letters on, his name read **T. Winner-Barton. **

Trente stared at the name in shock. _He was going to tell me, Trente realized. With that realization, any animosity Trente had had left towards Quarte immediately flew out the window. Hurriedly he put on the suit, then turned to look at himself in the mirror. _

"You like it?"

Trente turned to see Quatre standing in the doorway, smiling at him. "Why didn't you tell me?" he asked. 

"I wanted you to see the name for yourself," Quatre said. "I've had the flight suits longer than I let on - but because yours had your real name on it, I was hesitant to give them out. When I found out that you had been found by Catherine Bloom, I had Dorothy tell the manufacturer to ship the uniforms. I was planning on telling you personally, when I gave it to you, but it didn't work out that way." Quatre sighed. "I'm sorry."

Trente walked over and wrapped his arms around his father. "It's okay, Dad," he whispered. 

Quatre held Trente tightly, and felt his eyes heat up with tears. "Oh, lord, I didn't come here to cry," he said in a choked voice. "But do you know how long I've wanted to hear you say that?"

"Do _you know how long __I've wanted to call you that?" Trente shot back, pulling away. "Shouldn't you be with Neo-Sandrock?"_

"I wanted to tell you something, first," Quatre said. He looked at Trente seriously. "How would you feel about becoming a family of three instead of two?"

Trente frowned uncertainly. "What do you…" His eyes widened. "No way! That's great!" He let out loud shout and ran out of the cockpit.

"Trente!" Quatre called as he realized what Trente was going to do. _That boy never could keep a secret, he thought. __So he doesn't. _

Trente leaped onto the catwalk next to Heatseeker, completely oblivious to Trowa, who was standing next to the rail. Trente leaned over the rail and whistled loudly to get everyone's attention. "Guess what?!" he shouted.

"A herd of flying elephants have kidnapped Kenji and are holding him for ransom!" Isaac shouted from where he was standing next to Sparticus. 

"Shut up, Isaac!" Kenji shouted from in front of MegaWing.

Trente ignored Isaac's smart-ass comments. "My parents are getting married!" he shouted. 

The cheering and applause were instantaneous as Quatre walked up to join Trowa and Trente. "Thanks," he said to Trente sarcastically, but he was grinning anyway. 

"It's about time, you two!" Duo shouted, clapping the loudest. 

Suddenly another whistle pierced the air, and everyone fell silent as they looked over Altron. Sally was blushing, and Wufei lowered his fingers from his mouth from when he'd whistled. "Just to add to the celebration," he said, "I'd like to know when the wedding is." 

Quatre shrugged and looked at Trowa. "In a few months," Trowa said. "After this is all over."

Wufei nodded. "Well, if it's in more than seven months, you'll have make our invitation for three - because Sally and I are going to have a baby!" 

The stunned silence was momentary before Duo let out another shout of laughter and started the clapping over again. Everybody started shouting questions to each other, asking Quatre and Trowa how big the wedding was going to be, who was going to be in it, where would it be, asking Sally and Wufei why they'd gotten married in secret, what sex the baby was, and what they were planning on naming it. This was the scene that Une walked in on a few minutes later, and she looked around in amusement. 

A whistle pierced the air for the third time, and they all looked around, wondering what it could be for this time.

"Congratulations are all in order," Lady Une said. "But save them for later. Right now we have a mission to complete. So pilots, get your good lucks, say whatever you have to say now, and get into your Gundams to prepare for launch." 

Trowa kissed Quatre, and hugged Trente. "I'll see you later," he said. Quatre hugged Trente as well. "Be careful," he whispered before heading for Sandrock. 

Trente turned towards the cockpit, and noticed Kenji waving at him from MegaWing. "See you later?" Kenji called.

"Yeah," Trente said, nodding confidently. 

Isaac checked the controls in Sparticus, and blinked when two screens popped up. Sandra and Meila were looking at him. "Hey," he said, grinning. "What's up?"

"I just wanted to say good luck," Sandra said. "To both of you. And you better not screw up the defense, O'Riley."

"Kushrenada," Isaac corrected, smirking. "Kushrenada."

Sandra rolled her eyes, and her screen blinked out. 

"I'll echo that good luck," Meila said, smiling shyly.

"Thanks," Isaac said. "Hey, Mei?"

"Yeah?"

"After this is over, you want to get something to eat or whatever?"

Meila's smile went from shy to impish. "Why, Isaac, are you asking me on a date?"

Isaac looked thoughtful. "I thought that's what I was doing." 

Now Meila's expression could only be described as ecstatic. "It's a date, then," she said happily. "See you out there." 

"Good luck," Isaac said. 

"Duo?" Heero's face appeared in Deathscythe's cockpit. 

"Yeah?"

"Be careful, okay? Don't get yourself killed." 

Duo smiled at his spouse. "I could say the same to you, Yuy. No self-destruction."

"No worries," Heero said, chuckling ruefully. "Relena took out the self-destruction devices in each of the Gundams."

Duo checked in his cockpit. "Hey, you're right! I didn't even notice that!" 

Relena was sitting quietly in Epyon's cockpit when suddenly a dark screen flared to life. Words began to scroll over it. **HI. **

Uncertainly, Relena typed back: …Hi. 

**THIS IS THE SHINIGAMI, CONTACTING FROM MARS. JUST THOUGHT YOU MIGHT LIKE TO KNOW THAT QUIETUS HAS DETECTED THE PEACEMILLION 2.**

Relena's eyes widened, and she quickly typed: Noir?

**ON HIS WAY TO THE POWER CORE. THIS IS THE ACTUAL GUNDAM TALKING. GOOD LUCK.**

Relena smiled.: Thanks.

She pulled up her own screen and formed a link with the other ten suits. "I just got a message from Shinigami," she told them. "He says Noir and Cindy are on their way to the power core, so I guess it's time."

"How are you feeling, Ojou-sama?" Duo asked. 

"I think I can handle it," Relena said.

"I'll be on your wing, so if you have trouble, just ask," Wufei said. 

There was a crackling sound, and Une's voice could be heard echoing in the hanger. "_Call it off when you're ready." _

"Wing Zero, ready."

"Deathscythe HELL, ready."

"Heavyarms, ready."

"Sandrock, ready."

"Altron, ready." 

"Epyon, ready." 

"MegaWing, ready."

"Heatseeker, ready."

"Sparticus, ready."

"Lotus, ready."

"Atlantica, ready."

Suddenly Relena and Wufei let out shouts of surprise, and then started laughing.

"_What?" Une demanded. _

"Shinigami is ready," Relena said, grinning.

"Chronosphere is ready, too," Wufei added. 

The doors to the hanger began to open. "_Good luck, all of you," Une said as the restraints holding the Gundams in place were retracted. "__The fate of Earth and Colonies rest on this mission. Give it all you've got." _

"Sir, we're picking up a strange reading on the radar," on the soldiers said. 

The Cyborg general came over and looked at the screen. A huge structure was being picked up by the sensors. "What the hell is that?" 

"We've got it on screen now, sir," another soldier said. The screen flared to life, showing the Peacemillion 2. 

"It's the Peacemillion 2," another Cyborg said. "It was launched for the first time by Foreign Minister Dorilan yesterday, according to news reports." 

"What's it doing way out here?" demanded the general. 

"Sir! Something's leaving the Peacemillion 2!" 

On the screen, and on radar, they could just make out several smaller objects escaping from a hole in the ship. "What are those?" snarled the general. 

"Get a visual," One said calmly from the back of the room. "Just one of them."

The general looked back at the five members of the Quietus Council, and nodded. "Get a visual!" he shouted.

There were several minutes of tense silence. 

"On screen now."

The screen flared to life.

One, Two, Three, and Four stared at the screen in shock. "What the hell _is that?" Three exclaimed. _

Five, otherwise known as Trieze Kushrenada, smiled inwardly. He reached down and touched the object secure at his side. "Isn't it obvious?" he asked. "It's Wing Zero." 


	48. The Lucky Ones

**Gundam MegaWing: After Colony 225**

**Chapter Forty-Eight: The Lucky Ones**

"Come on!" Cindy hissed, reaching her hand back. Noir grasped it and allowed her to help pull him up the last few steps of the ladder that let into the service duct. 

"I really don't think we have to worry about anyone spotting us," Noir grumbled, but Cindy didn't answer, as she was crawling through the duct ahead of him and couldn't turn so that he could understand her. "They're probably too busy with the Gundams."

The service duct was a short one, and Cindy had no trouble finding the grate that led down into the corridor they were looking for. She twisted around and slammed her foot down on top of it. The metal grating came out easily, and she jumped nimbly to the ground. Noir was right behind her, and immediately pulled out his scythe to shed some light on darkened corridor. 

"They can only buy us so much time," Cindy said, eyes narrowed. "Sooner or later they'll run out of Cyclones, and when that happens we have to be ready to get out of here." 

Noir nodded and stopped in front of a large metal door. "Here," he said. "This is the room Treize said the power core was in." 

Cindy stepped forward and glanced at the lock. "Electronic," she said. 

"You can't pick that," Noir commented. 

"I don't have to." She pulled a laser gun out of the holster at her side and aimed it straight at the lock, cutting around the offending object easily. The lock fell off the door and clattered to the ground, and Noir and Cindy gripped the edge of the metal slab to pull it open. 

The room behind the door was brighter than the corridor, but bathed in a eerie purple light that emanated from the power core itself. It towards nearly a hundred feet over the two pilots' heads, and for a moment all they could do was stare up at it in shock. 

There was a crackle on the radio that Cindy wore strapped to her side. 

"_What's your progress?" _

Cindy picked up the radio. 

"We've reached the power core. What's the situation outside?"

"_The Gundams are giving them hell. As soon as they've cut to the final defense, I'll begin stage two to distract Quietus from using it." _

"Good," Cindy said, nodding. "Noir and I will begin the core meltdown immediately. Good luck, Treize." 

"_To you as well, Cynthia. Your parents would be proud." _

Cindy nodded, not trusting herself to say anything. _Mother, Father, she thought as she turned off the radio, __you'll finally get your revenge. She looked at Noir. "Let's do this."_

"Damn it, where the hell did they all come from?" shouted Isaac as he dodged a pass by one Cyclone, only to have to spin Sparticus around and dodge in the other direction a second later. 

"It's the whole fleet," Sandra said tensely. Atlantica was several miles behind Sparticus and above, using her speed to her utmost advantage as she dodged the Mobile DOLL units surrounding her. There was a sudden explosion, and half of her visuals immediately went dead. "I'm running blind on the left!" she shouted. 

A minute later, approximately twenty Cyclones on her left were cut in half as Deathscythe HELL came out of seemingly nowhere to come to Atlantica's aid. "You okay?" Duo asked.

"Yeah," Sandra said. "I just need a minute. Atlantica, reconnect circuits seventeen through twenty-three." There was a whirring sound from inside the Neo-Gundam as the AI program acknowledged the request. 

"I've got you covered," Duo replied. 

Not far away, Sandrock was in a stand-off with a group of four Cyclones, one on each side of him. He had lost both of his heatshorters in a miscalculation, and Quatre knew that the DOLLs thought they had him. 

They were blissfully unaware of the twenty something missiles Heavyarms had trained on them, and Quatre didn't waste any tears when those missiles tore into the Cyclones and Trowa threw him his heatshorters. "Don't lose those again," he said tightly.

Sandrock immediately dove several feet to cut through two lines of Cyclones at once, and he looked at Trowa's visual. "Thanks," he said, smiling slightly.

Lotus turned a blind corner around a cluster of dead Cyclones and pulled up short. "Uh, oh," she said, eyes widening. There was an entire second fleet of DOLLs waiting for her there. There was a gleam in her eye as she contemplated the odds. The GigaCannon would take out maybe a third…"Wing Zero, MegaWing, come in!" 

"What's up, Meila?" Kenji asked. Heero's image popped up a second later, and he looked at her. 

"Get to my coordinates, quick," she said. "I've got a use for those buster rifles you two are carrying around."

"Mission accepted," Heero said before popping out.

"I'll be there," Kenji said, nodding. 

Meila flipped a few switches and felt the familiar static charge inside the cockpit as the GigaCannon charged up. She clicked on the emergency intercom. "This is Neo-Gundam Lotus, calling Peacemillion 2 and all other Neo-Gundams. Preparation for Lotus GigaCannon is nearing completion. Please take adequate precaution." The dragon's head on Lotus' chest opened its mouth, and the charged particle cannon inside of it powered up. "Preparation complete. GigaCannon, fired!" 

A brilliant beam of energy shot out of the dragon's head and slammed into the Cyclones immediately in its path, causing them to explode on impact. The debris from those Cyclones hit the DOLLs next to them, wiping them out, which in turn wiped out those next to _them, and then the next set until the other DOLLs adjusted and got out of the way._

Meila threw back her head and crowed happily. 

"You've got more coming!" Isaac warned. 

She looked out, just in time to see two identical particle beams come from either side of her and take care of the rest of the Cyclones. "Thanks!" she called to MegaWing and Wing Zero as they flew past her to head on to the next line of defense. 

On the other side of the battlefield, Epyon and Altron were cutting through the minimal defense like a knife through butter. "This is harder than a looks," Relena said, gritting her teeth.

"You're doing fine," Wufei assured her. "Just let Epyon do most of the thinking and you'll have no trouble." 

Relena cut through several Cyclones with Epyon's whip, but debris from the attack hit the Neo-Gundam, and Relena let out a cry as she lost complete visual in the cockpit. "Wufei!" she shouted. 

Altron fired a blast from his dragon fang at a Cyclone that got a little too close to him, and looked over just in time to see another got into full-spin mode, bearing down on Epyon. "Look out!" 

"I can't see!" Relena struggled with the controls, but Epyon refused to answer to her commands. "Damn it!" 

Wufei fired his thrusters, but he knew he wasn't going to get to Relena's aid in time. 

The Cyclone suddenly got pelted by a strange red substance. 

"OUT OF THE WAY!"

Altron shot to the left as a barrage of missiles flew by him, slamming into the one Cyclones. A red blur shot past at the same time, grabbed Epyon, and banked upright in less than the time it took for the debris from the Cyclone to slam into the blind MS.

"Trente?" Relena gasped. 

"You okay, Relena-sama?" Trente asked tensely as Heatseeker slowed and released Epyon.

"How the hell did you do that, kid?" Wufei demanded as Altron came up to join them. "I've never seen a Mobile Suit move that fast!" 

Trente drew in a deep breath to try and calm his nerves. "Heatseeker has extra back-up thrusters," he said. "I just threw them all on at once, but I think I dangerously depleted my fuel supply doing it."

"Get Relena back to Peacemillion 2 and refuel there," Wufei ordered. "Quatre!"

"Yeah?"

"This area is clear. Trente and Relena are returning to the ship for repairs, and I'm coming to the front."

"We're almost done, too," Isaac cut in. "Sandra, Duo and I are on our way down to meet with you." 

"Okay," Quatre said. "As soon as you get here, we're moving forward to give Heero, Kenji, and Meila some back up. They're already halfway through the second defense, and by the time we get there we should be ready to hit the final defense." 

"I've got a problem," Trowa said, tensely. "I'm out of ammo. I need to head back."

"We've got it covered," Duo said. 

"I'll give you cover, Trowa," Isaac offered. "I lost my beam saber, so all I can do is shield, anyway. Trente, if you can get Relena-sama over here, I can shield her, too."

Heatseeker came up beside Epyon and released a cable that attached it to the other MS. "Come on, Relena-sama," Trente said. "Let's get you out of here."

"No arguments," Relena said. "Epyon and I are out of this battle." 

Quatre grimaced as he watched Heavyarms take off towards where Sparticus was waiting. "Duo, Wufei, Heero, Kenji, Sandra, Meila," he said. "We're down to seven Neo-Gundams. Can we go on?"

"We've cut through more than halfway," Heero said. "We could handle this with only five. Let's keep going."

"All right," Quatre said. "But if anyone needs to pull out, do it at once. Understood?"

"Yes, sir!" Meila, Sandra, and Kenji responded. 

"Quatre, I think you've gotten too used to this commander deal," Duo said, laughing. Then, abruptly, his laugh was cut off by a sudden shout from Meila. 

"_KENJI, LOOK OUT!" _

The Quietus Command Center lit up with the explosion of MegaWing on the screen. Four out of the five members of the Council cheered at the sight, and the general smirked. "That's what they get for not checking the base for defenses," he smirked.

Treize stared at the screen in horror. As the explosion faded away, there wasn't a single piece of MegaWing to be found. _No, Treize thought. He stood up and faced the Council, anger marring his face. "What the hell was that?!" he demanded. _

One looked at him calmly. "The Quietus Laser," he said calmly. "Capable of completely wiping out a single colony in one blow - let alone a single Mobile Suit." 

"It wasn't designed for offensive measures!" shouted Treize. 

"The pilot was getting too close," Two said, just as calmly.

"I'm surprised, Treize," Four said suspiciously. "You designed the laser - I would have thought that you'd be thrilled with its success." 

One smiled. "Let's watch a replay of that, on slow!" 

As the replay of MegaWing's destruction replayed on the screen in slow motion, it was all Treize could do not to become violently sick. All of his planning for Quietus' downfall, and it had led to the death of a boy barely sixteen. Then, suddenly, Treize froze as he looked at the screen, just before the actual explosion .

_Could it be? he though. The recording faded, and the actual battle came up. _

A soldier called from the radar station, "Wing Zero is taking aim!" 

They all turned to the main screen, where Wing Zero was aiming straight at the Command Center. "The pilot is hailing us!" another soldier called.

"Put him online," Three commanded.

Heero Yuy's face appeared on the screen. "Am I correct in assuming that you fired that shot?" he asked, apparently extremely calm. But Treize could see the rage burning just beneath the surface. 

"The same cannon is trained on you, 01," One said confidently. "You'll never get out of its way in time." He turned to the General. "Fire the cannon!" 

"STOP!" 

One froze when he felt the cold metal of the gun barrel against the back of his head. Everyone stared at the holder of the gun - Treize Kushrenada. 

"What a-are you d-doing?" One asked hesitantly.

"What I should have done in the first place," Treize said angrily. "I was the one who released Specimen 02 from the laboratories. I was the one who delayed the production of the Cyclones. I was the one who fed the information to Zechs Marquise. And I'm the one who allowed a double agent to be recruited into Quietus, who as we speak has already set this entire base to explode." He didn't take his eyes off of One, but spoke directly to Heero. "Retreat, Yuy. And don't lose hope." 

Heero stared at him, briefly. Then he nodded. "Mission accomplished," he said as he severed the connection.

"The Gundams are retreating back to the Peacemillion 2," radar reported. 

One let out a shaky breath. "And excellent bluff, Treize - but completely unnecessary. In fact –" 

_BANG!_

One's lifeless body slumped the floor, and Four let out a scream at the sight. "Traitor!" she shouted, pointing at Treize.

Treize smiled coldly. "You just figured that out?" He glanced at his watch, then at the screen. "My ride is here. Forgive me if I can't stay around for the fireworks." 

"You'll never get out of here alive!" Three lifted up his arm, and Treize watched as the forearm folded back to reveal a huge laser on the end. 

The wall exploded inward. 

When the dust settled, Treize looked up to see the cockpit of Chronosphere just above his head. "Get in!" Cindy shouted. Treize wasted no time in getting inside and securing himself in one of the seats behind the pilot's chair. "A little close," he commented as the cockpit closed back up. "If I were completely human, I'd be dead." 

"Good thing you're not, then, eh?" Cindy asked smugly. "Good aiming?"

Chronosphere had completely flattened the rest of the Council. "Very good aiming," Treize agreed. "Now get us out of here."

Chronosphere powered her thrusters in reverse, and then Cindy groaned. "Shit. I'm stuck." 

Treize smiled calmly. "What about the Warp Feature?"

She turned in her seat to stare at him. "How did you know?" she asked.

"Who do you think designed this Mobile Suit?" Treize asked. 

Her jaw dropped. "_You?" _

"I sent the plans to Quatre through Zechs," Treize replied. "This was my intention from the very beginning."

Cindy nodded. "There's only a fifty percent chance of success, and the jump won't be very far."

"Just far enough to get us out." 

Everyone was assembled on Peacemillion 2's bridge when the Quietus base exploded. They had all seen Chronosphere slam into it, but hadn't seen the MS escape. And Shinigami was nowhere in sight, either. 

"We won," Quatre said softly. He shook his head. "Did it have to be like this?" 

Duo was clinging to Heero, shaking as tears streamed down his face. Trente was leaning against the wall, pale and looking ready to collapse. 

"It's not fair," Isaac said, his voice tight with emotion. "Why did it have to happen this way?" 

"War," Wufei said coldly.

Even Sandra was visibly shaken by the loss of the three Mobile Suits and their pilots. "I thought…I never imagined that we'd lose anyone," she whispered.__

Lady Une was staring at the observation screen silently, waiting. "Everyone, shut up!" she suddenly shouted. "Look."

They looked.

A bright sphere appeared in the middle of the floating wreckage, growing brighter and brighter with each second. And when it was so bright that it couldn't get any brighter, the sphere shattered, revealing a shimmering Mobile Suit inside.

Chronosphere.

"What the hell?!" Quatre's eyes widened in shock as everyone basically repeated that same statement. 

"Chronosphere as the Warp ability," Lady Une explained softly. "I received a letter from Zechs explaining it in detail. The short story is that the Warp ability gives Chronosphere the power to create and travel through a very short wormhole - to travel through time." __

Fifteen minutes later, Chronosphere was secure in the hanger, and Cindy and Treize were greeted happily. "But I don't understand," Wufei said, staring at Treize. "How did you survive?"

Treize shook his head ruefully. "I was more than half dead when Quietus picked me up out of space thirty years ago. They spent the next ten years rebuilding me - replacing parts of my body with cybernetic pieces, and transforming me into a Cyborg. They combined the Cyborg technology with the cloning ability to give me new life. 

"When I reawakened in my new body, for the first time, I was stunned by Quietus' plan. They told it to me immediately, of course, and then threatened to disassemble me if I didn't work for them. So I did. And soon I found myself a member of the Council. Which is when I began their downfall.

"I contacted Zechs - through anonymous messages - and fed him information about Quietus, which he in turn gave to Quatre. With those messages, I included the schematics for Chronosphere, which I hear gave Quatre the idea to build more Neo-Gundams. I wasn't counting on that, but it worked out.

"I released Noir Date to stop the AI program for the Cyclones from being completed. Then I did everything in my power to make sure that Cindy wasn't discovered as a Preventer agent. Quietus quickly figured out that there was a traitor among them, and by a stroke of luck, they had me search for him - never knowing that I was, in fact, the traitor.

"All of this was done to lead up to this day." 

"You had this planned from the beginning?" Duo asked incredulously. "My son is dead because of this crazy plan!" 

Treize looked at him calmly. "Yes, I planned it from the beginning. I even left Epyon's schematics where Relena would be sure to find them. And don't worry, Maxwell. Neither your son nor your clone perished in this."

Everyone stared at Treize like he was insane. "What are you talking about?" Heero demanded. 

Treize nodded towards the empty berth where Shinigami was supposed to have been. 

Cindy marched over and removed her space helmet, then stood several feet away from the space. "Joke's over, Noir! Cut it out!" 

_It was a Monday when _

_My lover told me_

_Never pay the reaper with_

_Love only_

The air rippled - the same ripple that Treize had seen on the slow-motion replay, and Shinigami appeared out of thin air.

And MegaWing, in near-perfect condition, was in its arms. 

Shinigami's cockpit opened, and Noir climbed out, removing his helmet as he did so. He jumped nimbly onto MegaWing and helped open the cockpit to the other MS. 

Kenji emerged, completely unharmed. 

"Shinigami's stealth cloak made it possible for Noir to leave the base without detection, and he sensed the use of the Quietus Cannon before it could actually go off. It was pure luck that he got to MegaWing in time…but sometimes luck is all you need," Treize said as the three pilots walked towards them. "They sneaked aboard Peacemillion 2 while the other suits were making their way in, as well." 

Trente ran to Kenji and immediately pulled him into his arms. "Thank God you're alive," he whispered. 

"Is it over?" Kenji asked. 

"Yeah," Trente replied, kissing him softly. "It's over." 

_What could I say to you_

_Except I love you_

_And I'd give my life for yours_

A second later they were attacked by several of their fellow pilots, all incredibly relieved by the miracle that had occurred. Heero latched onto his son and refused to let go, and Duo would've done the same - except he was staring at Noir in shock. 

"The resemblance is uncanny," Meila said in wonder. 

"Except for the hair," agreed Trowa. 

Duo swallowed hard, and managed a tremulous smile. "Hi," he said.

Noir's smile was also hesitant. "Hi," he said. 

"Nice suit," Duo said, motioning to Shinigami.

"Yours, too," Noir agreed. 

A smirk formed on Duo's face. "Yeah, well, they say that imitation is the finest form of flattery." 

"Great, now Maxwell's going to have an even bigger ego," groaned Wufei.

Noir and Duo laughed, and when Duo held out his hand, Noir shook it gladly.

_I know we are _

_We are the lucky ones_

_I know we are_

_We are the lucky ones_

_I know we are_

_We are the lucky ones_

_Dear_

Quatre watched the scene, a smile on his face. "You know," he said when Trowa, Duo, Heero, and Wufei came over to join him a few minutes later, "this isn't quite how I imagined Quietus' defeat working out." 

"I can guess," Trowa agreed. "So what now?"

They looked at the group of seven teenagers clustered together in front of them: Trente Winner-Barton, Kenji Lowe, Treize Isaac Kushrenada, Cynthia Marquise, Meila Fuang, Sandra Martinez, and Noir Date. 

"Let's go home," Quatre said softly. 

_Remember the time we made_

_Love in the roses_

_And you took my picture_

_In all sorts of poses_

_How can I ever get over you?_

_And I'd give my life for yours_

_I know we are_

_We are the lucky ones_

_I know we are_

_We are the lucky ones_

_I know we are_

_We are the lucky ones_

_I know we are _

_We are the lucky ones_

_Dear, my dear_

_It's time to say _

_I thank God for you_

_I thank God for you_

_Then he took everything away_

_And I know_

_It's time to let you know_

_Time to sit here and say_

_I know we are_

_We are the lucky ones_

_I know we are_

_We are the lucky ones_

_I know we are _

_We are the lucky ones_

_I know we are_

_We are the lucky ones_

_Dear, dear_

_We are the lucky ones_

_Dear, dear _

_We are the lucky ones_

_Dear, dear_

_We are the lucky ones_

_Dear_

_We are the lucky ones_

**      OWARI**


	49. Coming Up

Gundam MegaWing: After Colony 225

**The Quietus Conflict**

**Author's Notes**

For those of you reading this, I just want to start out by giving a first and foremost THANK YOU! You've stuck with the story through all of its 48 chapters – a feat even for me! When I first started GMW, I had no idea it would turn out to be this huge, especially since it started out as a dream. Literally. 

Some of you are probably griping about the ending – I apologize. Originally I planned on drawing it out a bit longer, going into what happened to everybody after the battle, but I decided against it. There were two reasons for this. 

1) 48 chapters was pushing it, even for me, and I didn't really want to go much further with this storyline.

2) I wanted to end the story in a way that would leave it as a stand alone. Doing what I would have done would have led to some major foreshadowing for a sequel.

That's not to say I _won't_ do a sequel – I'm open to it. What decides whether or not I'll do the sequel to The Quietus Conflict depends on you, the readers. If you want one, it will come. But you have to let me know, either through e-mail or the review box. If enough people ask, I'll make it happen. And if those of you who ask for the sequel have any constructive criticism on what I could do to make it better that its predecessor, well, I'll accept that, too. ^_^ And I won't flame you for doing it, either. 

I could go on and on with rants about all my characters, the relationships in the story, the plotline – but I won't. I don't want to bore you. So from all of us here at Gundam MegaWing, thank you for reading, and maybe we'll see you again someday – in some way, shape, or form.

~ Aynslesa Morro Wolf

_The following items do not and never will belong to me:_

_The cast of the original Mobile Suit Gundam Wing © Sunrise_

_'Love Doesn't Ask Why' © Celine Dion_

_'Lucky' © Bif Naked_

**_Anything else may be used only with permission from the author._**


End file.
